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Confessions  of  a  convert 
from  baptism  in  water  to 


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CONFESSIONS  OF  A  CONVERT, 


FROM 


BAPTIS:^!    IN    WATER 


TO 


BAPTISM    WITH    WATER 


FROM  THE  SECONT)  ENGLISH  EDITION. 


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*      DEC  14  1911 

PHILADELPHIA: 

PRESBYTERIAN    BOARD    OF    PUBLICATION, 
No.  265  CHESTNUT  STREET. 


stereotyped  by  Slote  &  Moonet,  Philadelphia. 
Printed  by  W  M .  S .  M  a  R  T  i  E  n  , 


PREFACE. 


"Who  is  the  author  of  Confessions  of  a 
Convert?"  ''Who  is  Mr.  B.  ?"  ''Who  is 
Mr.  R.?"  "Is  the  book  fact  or  fiction?" 
These  are  questions  which  curiosity  may  ask, 
but  which,  for  sundry  reasons,  cannot  now  be 
answered. 

There  is,  however,  one  query  to  which  a 
reply  may  be  returned;— it  is  this,  "Why 
have  these  'Confessions'  been  published  to 
the  world?"  Not,  certainly,  because  works 
on  the  main  subject  to  which  they  relate  are 
either  scarce  or  unsatisfactory.  Writers,  such 
as  Edwards,  Ewing,  Wardlaw,  Thorn,  Halley, 
and  Godwin,  have  left  but  scanty  gleaning  in 
this  well-trodden  field  of  controversy  for  any 
of  their  successors.     But  most  of  their  treat- 

Ciii) 


IV  PREFACE. 

ises  are  much  too  long  and  learned  for  popu- 
lar use.  They  are  far  better  adapted  to  the 
ministers  and  more  reflecting  members  of  our 
churches  than  to  the  mass,  who  have  neither 
time  nor  talent  for  the  study  of  productions 
so  elaborate.  The  result  is,  that  while  those 
by  whom  they  are  read  rise  from  the  perusal 
strong  as  proof  from  Holy  Writ  can  make 
them  in  their  belief  of  the  authority  and  ex- 
cellence of  a  practice  so  ably  defended,  as 
the  number  of  such  readers  is  comparatively 
small,  the  effect  has  been  proportionally  re- 
stricted. For  general  benefit,  a  different 
class  of  books  is  essential, — books  that  will 
interest,  while  they  instruct,  and  which  con- 
tain reasonings  ''  made  easy ''  to  ordinary 
minds.  Such  a  book  the  writer  of  the  follow- 
ing pages  has  endeavoured  to  produce.  But 
Avhilst,  in  writing  it,  he  has  aimed  at  popular 
instruction  in  general,  there  is  particularly 
one  class  whose  special  benefit  he  has  kept  in 
view— THE  YOUNG.  Knowing  well  the  means 
often  employed  to  mislead  them  on  the  subject 
of  baptism,  he  has  been  anxious  to  supply  an 
antidote  to  the  arts  and  sophistries  by  which 


PREFACE.  V 

they  are  likely  to  be  assailed.  Let  ministers 
and  parents  aid  him  by  placing  it  in  their 
hands,  and  he  is  assured  that  it  will  not  be 
without  advantage  to  their  youthful  charge. 

If  some  readers  are  staggered  at  a  few  of 
the  incidents  narrated  in  the  following  pages, 
the  writer  would  assure  them  that  he  has 
withheld  several  other  circumstances  far  more 
startling  than  those  which  are  detailed,  and 
which  might  have  been  confirmed  by  many 
witnesses,  solely  because  they  would  supply 
indications  of  ignorance,  superstition,  and 
prejudice  which  would  seem  incredible.  But 
he  is  persuaded  that  none,  who  are  acquainted 
with  the  class  of  Baptists  of  whom  he  has 
spoken,  will  deem  the  portraiture  he  has 
drawn  either  incorrect  or  over-coloured.  He 
uses  the  words  "class  of  Baptists,"  because 
much  of  what  he  has  written  will  apply  only 
to  a  portion  of  that  body ;  a  portion,  however, 
by  no  means  small,  and  one  whose  sentiments 
and  spirit  inflict  still  greater  injury  upon  their 
own  denomination  than  upon  those  whose 
practice  they  oppose.  But  the  author  is  per- 
suaded better  things  of  many  others  from 
1* 


Vi  PREFACE. 

wliom  lie  differs,  and  is  confident  that  they 
would  repudiate  as  strongly  as  he  does  the 
arguments  and  proceedings  which  he  has  en- 
deavoured to  expose. 

No  one  desires  more  devoutly  than  the 
writer  the  dawn  of  that  day  when  the  question 
of  baptism  shall  cease  to  vex  the  church.  But 
recent  events — especially  the  formation  of  the 
"Bible  Translation  Society"  and  the  "Bap- 
tist Tract  Society,''  with  the  speeches  at  the 
meetings  of  the  one,  and  the  publications 
issued  by  the  other,  too  plainly  show  that 
such  a  period  is  distant.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances, Pgedo-baptists  must  defend  their 
principles,  and,  when  requisite,  expose  the 
reasonings  and  practices  of  their  Baptist 
brethren.  And  surely  this  should  not  offend 
them,  even  when  the  same  freedom  of  speech 
is  used  by  others  which  they  claim  for  them- 
selves. 


PREFACE 


TO 


THE    SECOND    EDITION. 


The  rapid  sale  of  the  first  large  Edition 
of  the  •'  Confessions,"  and  the  numerous  de- 
mands for  it  since  then  which  the  Publisher 
has  been  unable  to  satisfy,  justify  the  author, 
at  first  in  the  preparation,  and  now  in  the 
re-issue  of  the  volume.  It  was  penned  under 
the  comdction  that  such  a  work  was  necessary, 
and  with  the  hope  that  it  might  be  useful. 
This  conviction  has  been  confirmed — tliis  hope 
realized — by  the  result. 

The  writer's  purpose  was — ^by  rebuking  the 
narrow  spirit,  and  exposing  the  shallow  soph- 
isms, of  the  class  of  bigoted  Baptists  whom 

(vii) 


viii  PREFACE. 

he  describes — to  guard  the  young  against  their 
influence.  This  design  it  was  impossible  to 
accomplish,  just  because  it  was  impossible  to 
state  facts  and  maintain  truth  without  appear- 
ing to  be  uncharitable  and  severe.  He  is  not 
surprised,  therefore,  that  a  few  have  censured 
his  production.  Many  of  them,  however, 
have  done  so  from  inconsideration.  They 
have  overlooked  the  author's  affirmation — 
that  his  descriptions  applied  not  to  all  Bap- 
tists, but  merely  to  a  class  of  them.  No  de- 
nomination numbers  amongst  its  members 
wiser  or  worthier  men ;  but  these  men  know 
how  many  there  are  bearing  the  same  name 
whose  spirit  and  tactics  are  truthfully  por- 
trayed in  the  following  pages.  Such  estimable 
persons,  with  a  few  Paedo-baptists,  who  live  in 
large  towns  and  in  pleasant  fellowship  with  a 
select  circle  of  the  most  intelligent  and  liberal- 
minded  of  the  various  Christian  denomina- 
tions, may  deem  the  sketches  inaccurate,  or 
the  reasonings  needless,  which  form  a  large 
portion  of  this  volume.  But  a  few  months' 
sojourn  in  some  of  our  rural  districts  or  small 
towns  would  correct  their  mistake,  and  effec- 


PREFACE.  IX 

tually  cure  them  of  their  misapplied  charity. 
Were  they  to  witness  the  unworthy  arts  to 
which  small-minded  zealots  for  "much  water'' 
resort,  in  order  to  gain  from  the  young  and 
uninstructed  a  proselyte  to  their  sect,  they 
would  not  condemn  but  commend  the  man 
who  should  expose  artifices  so  dishonourable 
to  the  denomination  they  were  designed  to 
enlarge,  and  so  calculated  to  injure  the  cause 
of  Christ. 

But  the  author  is  aware  that  his  work  is 
not  mere  narration.  It  is  throughout  ar- 
gumentative. And  though  he  acquits  the 
more  respectable  Baptists  of  the  spirit  which 
he  has  exposed,  he  is  aware  that  many  of 
them,  in  common  with  inferior  men,  rely 
upon  some,  at  least,  of  the  reasonings 
which  he  has  refuted.  At  this  he  may 
marvel,  but  he  has  no  disposition  to  do 
more.  How  some  Baptists  can  be  satisfied 
with  the  support  they  derive  to  their  sys- 
tem from  many  of  their  arguments  which 
are  answered  in  the  ^'  Confessions,"  he 
knows  not.  They  may  think  the  Paedo- 
baptists  ^'weak  brethren,"  as  too  many  of 


PREFACE. 


them  profess  to  do ;  but  such  brethren  can 
comfort  themselves  with  the  thought  that, 
weak  as  they  are,  they  are  strong  enough  to 
stand  against,  and  to  scatter  to  the  winds, 
sophisms  of  those  who  smile  with  self-com- 
placency at  their  folly. 


CONFESSIONS  OF  A  CONVERT. 


PAKT  I. 

DOUBTS   AND   DIFFICULTIES. 

My  parents  were  piouS;  but  Baptists  cf  the 
straitest  sect.  This  even  a  stranger  would  very 
soon  discover,  but  their  children  knew  it  right 
well.  I  can  trace  amongst  my  very  earliest  impres- 
sions the  idea  that  it  was  very  wrong  to  sprinkle 
babies,  and  that  the  ministers  who  did  so  were 
very  foolish  or  very  naughty  men.  I  do  not  think, 
indeed,  that  my  worthy  father  and  mother  ever 
told  me  this  in  so  many  words ;  but  I  am  per- 
suaded that  they,  and  others  who  attended  our 
meeting,  believed  as  much  ;  and  I  well  remember 
hearing  them  speak  of  Psedo-baptists  as  ^^weak 

(11) 


12  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

brethren/'  labouring  under  a  dangerous  delusion. 
I  am  convinced,  however,  that  my  parents,  who 
were  in  other  respects  very  kind  and  charitable, 
would  never  have  spoken  as  they  did  against  their 
fellow-Christians,  had  not  our  minister  set  them 
the  bad  example.  He  was  a  little  man,  and  rather 
corpulent;  with  a  stiff  gait,  a  pompous  air,  a 
round  and  rubicund  face,  and  a  very  loud  voice. 
He  had  not  been  favoured  with  an  academic  edu- 
cation ;  but  possessed  considerable  natural  talent, 
was  very  confident  that  he  knew  what  haptizo 
meant,  and  had  been  so  diligent  a  student  of  Dr. 
Grill,  and  a  few  other  divines  of  the  same  school, 
as  to  be  well  versed  in  the  principal  points  of  their 
rigid  creed.  It  was  his  practice,  when  I  was 
young,  frequently  "  to  smoke  a  pipe,"  as  he 
phrased  it,  and  to  spend  an  evening  at  my  father's 
house.  These  were  visits  in  which  I  greatly  re- 
joiced, because  I  was  then  generally  allowed  to 
"sit  up  to  supper," — a.  part  of  the  entertainment 
with  which  I  was  much  more  edified,  than  I  was 
with  the  grave  conversation,  for  the  sake  of  which 
I  was  kept  out  of  my  bed. 

I  cannot  now  recall  much  that  I  then  heard,  for 
the  very  good  reason  that  I  did  not  comprehend, 
and  rarely  regarded  it ;  but  I  well  recollect  that 
the  subject  of  immersion  was  generally  introduced ; 


DOUBTS   AND   DIFFICULTIES.  13 

and  there  were  two  passages  of  Scripture  which 
were  so  frequently  quoted — one  about  the  "  much 
water''  of  ^non,  and  the  other  about  Philip  and 
the  Eunuch  "  going  down  i7}to  the  water  and 
coming  up  out  of  the  water" — that  I  think  I 
should  forget  my  name  sooner  than  I  should  for- 
get them.  I  also  retain  very  vividly  the  expres- 
sion of  our  minister's  countenance,  and  the  sudden 
change  which  would  come  over  it,  whenever 
"  infant  sprinkling"  became  the  topic  of  remark. 
Often  have  I  observed,  in  the  midst  of  cheerful 
conversation,  or  even  while  he  was  facetious  (as 
he  could  be),  that  no  sooner  was  this  subject  sug- 
gested than  his  small  laughing  eyes  shot  fire,  and 
his  voice  and  mein  assumed  an  unwonted,  and,  as 
I  now  think,  an  unnatural  solemnity. 

There  were  some  other  circumstances  in  connec- 
tion with  baptism  which  happened  during  my 
earlier  years,  and  which  have  forcibly  recurred  to 
my  thoughts  since  that  subject  began  to  engage 
my  serious  consideration.  During  this  period 
death  removed  my  youngest  sister,  and  my 
parents  were  most  painfully  affected  by  this  be- 
reavement. The  belief,  however,  that  their  de- 
parted babe  had  entered  heaven  afforded  them 
much  support ;  and  they  appeared  to  be  especially 
consoled  by  the  Saviour's  assurance  that  "  of  such 
2 


14  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.''  At  the  time  this 
seemed  to  me  very  natural ;  hut  I  was  not  a  little 
surprised,  shortly  afterwards,  when  an  Indepen- 
dent, in  a  conversation  with  my  father,  quoted  this 
same  passage  to  prove  that  infants  were  suitable 
subjects  for  baptism,  to  hear  him  say  that  the 
words  did  not  describe  infants,  but  only  adults, 
who  resembled  them  in  spirit.  As  the  text  had 
often  been  repeated  to  me  when  a  child,  and  had 
long  been  a  favourite,  I  was  by  no  means  pleased 
with  my  father's  new  application  of  it;  and  for 
this  reason  I  was  induced  to  pay  more  attention 
than  I  otherwise  might  have  done  to  the  reply  of 
the  visitor.  He  said,  I  well  remember,  that  this 
could  not  be  the  meaning  of  our  Lord,  for  two 
reasons.  The  first  of  these  was,  that  the  original 
word  translated  ^'of  such"  never  meant  in  the 
New  Testament  '^  of  those  who  are  similar  in 
character,"  but  always  of  "  those  who  are  of  the 
same  kind  or  class."  Of  the  correctness  of  this 
statement  I  could  not  then  judge;  but  since  I 
became  more  competent  to  examine  it,  I  am  fully 
convinced  of  its  truth.  The  other  objection,  how- 
ever, I  could  appreciate ;  for  it  was  plain  and  con- 
vincing even  to  a  child.  It  was  this — that  when 
the  Saviour  said,  "  Suffer  little  children  to  come 
unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such  is  the 


DOUBTS   AND   DIFFICULTIES.  15 

kingdom  of  heaven/'  be  assigned  in  this  latter  de- 
claration a  reason,  not  for  his  receiving  adults  of 
a  child-like  disposition,  but  for  receiving  the  child- 
ren themselves.  He  then  asked  my  father  bow 
he  could  suppose  that  one  so  wise  as  Jesus  Christ, 
who  spake  as  never  man  spake,  could  have  ever 
conveyed  such  a  sentiment  as  this,  ^^  Suffer  the 
little  children  to  come  unto  me,  because  men  and 
women  who,  like  them,  are  meek  and  humble, 
belong  to  my  kingdom ! !''  What  answer  my 
good  father  returned  to  this  reasoning  I  cannot 
recollect;  but  I  know  that,  as  the  conversation 
only  confirmed  my  earliest  and  sweetest  impres- 
sions of  these  kind  words,  I  was  not  a  little 
pleased  that  the  Independent  had,  as  I  thought, 
obtained  the  best  of  the  argument.  I  also  con- 
sidered it  rather  strange  that,  although  my  pa- 
rents believed  that  Jesus  Christ  loved  my  little 
sister,  that  he  would  have  taken  her  in  his  arms 
had  he  been  on  earth,  and  that  he  had  actually 
received  her  spirit  into  heaven,  they  nevertheless 
refused  to  present  her  to  God  in  baptism,  as 
my  pious  uncle  and  aunt  presented  my  cousins. 

Shortly  after  entering  upon  the  twentieth  year 
of  my  age,  it  pleased  Grod,  I  trust,  to  discover  to 
me  the  exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin,  and  to  awaken 
in    my   soul   an  intense   desire   after   salvation. 


16  CONFESSIONS   OF   A  CONVERT. 

Most  deeply  did  I  then  feel  tliat  one  tiling  de- 
manded my  care,  and  that  it  became  me  to  seek 
this  with  my  whole  heart.  Ordinary  pursuits  had 
lost  their  power  to  please.  Old  things  had  passed 
away.  Truths,  with  which  I  had  been  theoreti- 
cally acquainted  from  my  childhood,  now  came  to 
my  thoughts  with  all  the  freshness  and  force  of 
an  immediate  revelation  from  heaven.  Exer- 
cises, in  which  I  had  been  wont  to  engage  from 
constraint  or  custom,  were  now  my  comfort  and 
my  choice.  To  me  no  spots  were  so  attractive  as 
the  sanctuary,  and  the  secret  place  of  prayer ;  and 
no  conversation  refreshing,  or  indeed  at  all  con- 
genial with  my  state  of  mind,  but  such  as  referred 
to  the  great  truths  and  spiritual  blessings  of  the 
gospel.  The  serious  reader  may,  therefore,  ima- 
gine that  I  felt  less  interest  than  ever  in  the  fre- 
quent recurrence  of  the  threadbare  su.bject  of  im- 
mersion, which  continued  to  be  one  of  the  most 
common  topics  of  discourse  when  Mr,  B.,  our 
minister,  spent  an  evening  at  our  house.  Indeed, 
I  think  about  that  period  more  was  said  on  the 
subject  than  usual,  because  a  new  minister  had 
just  been  ordained  at  the  Independent  chapel, 
whose  preaching  had  drawn  numbers  to  the  place, 
and  amongst  them  a  few  from  our  own  congrega- 
tion.    Having  sufficient  spiritual  discernment  to 


DOUBTS   AND   DIFFICULTIES.  17 

discover  that  there  was  a  better  baptism  than  that 
of  water,  and  being  much  impressed  with  the 
solemn  conviction,  that  "  neither  circumcision 
availeth  anything,  nor  uncircumcision,  but  a  new 
creature,^ ^  I  began  literally  to  loathe  the  trite 
theme  of  which  I  heard  so^much,  though  rarely 
anything  that  was  either  useful  or  new.  This 
aversion  was  strengthened  by  the  heavy  condem- 
nation which  our  pastor  frequently  pronounced 
upon  those  who  sprinkled  infants,  and  still  more 
by  the  contemptuous  and  acrimonious  tone  in 
which  it  was  sometimes  uttered.  As  at  that  time 
my  affections  went  freely  forth  towards  all  who 
loved  the  Savioui*,  these  hard  sayings  and  harsh 
censures  grated  most  painfully  upon  my  feelings ; 
and  more  than  once  I  withdrew  from  company 
in  which  I  had  not  courage  to  speak,  but  scarcely 
knew  how  to  be  silent. 

I  remember  being  particularly  displeased  with 
the  positive  tone  in  which  Mr.  B.  was  accus- 
tomed to  affirm,  that  all  upon  whom  water  was 
merely  sprinkled  or  poured  were  unbaptized ;  and 
that  to  administer  the  ordinance  to  any  except 
adult  believers,  was  ''  will  worship"  and  sinful 
superstition.  As  I  knew  several  intelligent  and 
serious  Independents  sufficiently  well  to  be  satis- 
fied that  they  could  not  be  chargeable  with  such 
2"^ 


18  CONFESSIONS   OF  A  CONVERT. 

evils,  and  was  confident,  moreover,  that  their 
practice  was  as  much  the  consequence  of  careful 
thought  and  conscientious  conviction  as  that  of 
their  accuser,  I  not  only  shrunk  from  these  un- 
charitable criminations,  but,  for  the  first  time,  I 
began  to  be  conscious  of  an  altered  feeling  towards 
their  author.  Assured  that  many  upright  Psedo- 
baptists  "  in  these  things  served  Christ,^'  as  sin- 
cerely as  their  brethren,  I  concluded  with  the 
apostle  Paul,  that  they  were  "  acceptable  to  God," 
and,  therefore,  that  they  ought  to  be  ''  approved 
of  men/' 

For  some  time,  as  I  have  already  intimated,  I 
kept  silence.  Yet,  although  my  lips  were  sealed, 
my  thoughts  were  busy;  and  the  conviction 
gradually  grew  up  in  my  mind,  and  gathered 
strength  from  every  recurrence  of  the  subject, 
that  my  dear  parents  and  their  teacher  were 
attaching  to  an  outward  rite  a  degree  of  im- 
portance unwarranted  by  Scripture ;  and  that,  in 
their  zeal  for  a  sign,  they  underrated,  and  some- 
times overlooked,  the  thing  signified. 

But  although  I  had  hitherto  kept  the  door  of 
my  lips,  and  many  times  under  a  strong  induce- 
ment to  speak,  on  one  occasion  my  feelings  broke 
through  all  restraints.  The  conversation  had 
turned  upon  the  case  of  a  young  lady  in  the  neigh- 


DOUBTS   AND  DIFFICULTIES.  19 

bourhood,  wlio,  it  was  supposed,  sympathized  with 
Baptist  views,  but  had  recently  joined  the  Inde- 
pendent church.  This  led  to  some  general  and 
very  strong  remarks  against  Pcedo-baptists,  and 
their  disregard  of  God's  ordinance,  which  could 
only  have  been  justifiable  upon  the  supposition 
that  they  were  doing  this  wilfully.  I  had  often 
heard  such  observations  before ;  but  having  that 
morning  been  reading  the  life  of  Philip  Henry, 
whose  views  on  the  subject  of  infant  baptism  were 
so  decided,  and  so  influential,  the  revolting 
thought  crossed  my  mind  that,  if  Mr.  B.'s  re- 
marks were  well  founded,  this  most  eminent  man, 
and  many  others  who,  though  dead,  are  yet  speak- 
ing by  their  writings  and  their  works,  must  be 
utterly  unworthy  of  that  high  place  in  the  records 
and  regard  of  the  church  in  which  their  character 
and  memory  have  been  long  enshrined.  Under 
this  impression,  I  ventui*ed  to  ask  Mr.  B.  whether 
a  Christian  man,  who,  after  an  honest,  searching, 
and  prayerful  examination  of  the  Scriptures,  had 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  his  duty  to  de- 
dicate his  children  to  God  by  baptism,  ought  to 
disregard  this  conviction,  or  to  follow  it?  At 
first  he  attempted,  as  I  thought,  to  evade  the 
Cjuestion,  and  expressed  some  doubt  whether  just 
such  a  case  could  happen  as  I  had  supposed ;  but 


20  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

when  I  mentioned  tlie  names  of  Owen,  Baxter, 
Howe,  Charnock,  Watts,  Doddridge,  Whitefield, 
Wesley,  and  the  Henrys,  and  referred  to  some  of 
onr  Independent  neighbours,  whose  praise  was  in 
all  the  surrounding  churches,  he  rather  shrunk 
from  his  uncharitable  surmise,  and  said  that  it 
was  not  for  him  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  them, 
and  that  to  their  own  Master  they  must  stand  or 
fall.  Not  satisfied  with  this  reply,  I  pressed  my 
point,  when  he  acknowledged  that  they  must  do 
what  they  deemed  best.  ^^  Well,  then,"  I  added, 
"  if  they  entertain  the  solemn  conviction  that  God 
requires  them  thus  to  dedicate  their  children,  is 
not  this  to  observe  the  divine  ordinance,  to  do 
that  which  is  both  good  and  acceptable, — in  a 
word,  to  obey  the  baptismal  command  ?"  With- 
out a  moment's  hesitation,  he  answered  in  the 
negative.  "  Tell  me,  then,''  I  added,  ^'  what  is 
that  in  the  service  which  constitutes  its  essence, 
and  which  God  chiefly  regards  ?  Is  it  tJie  mode 
in  which  it  is  done,  or  the  spirit  P"  He  paused 
for  a  moment,  and  then  began  to  speak  about  the 
signification  of  the  original  term.  "  That,,  sir," 
I  replied,  '^  is  a  point  in  dispute  between  Baptists 
and  other  Christian  bodies,  who,  with  at  least 
equal  integrity,  ability,  and  learning,  maintain 
that  the  word  does  not  mean  to  immerse,  just  as 


DOUBTS   AND   DIFFICULTIES.  21 

confidently  as  you  contend  that  it  does.  Upon 
this  question  I  cannot  pronounce ;  but  one  thing 
appears  to  me  perfectly  plain,  that  whether  the 
G-reek  word  signifies  dip,  or  sprinkle,  or  anything 
else,  a  correct  conclusion  respecting  the  meaning 
of  a  disputed  term  is  a  matter  of  very  inferior 
importance  to  that  upon  which  we  are  conversing. 
Can  you  believe,"  I  added,  "  that  a  mere  verbal 
mistake  (supposing  it  to  be  one)  would  vitiate  a 
service,  most  sincerely  performed  in  accordance 
with  what  is  verily  believed  to  be  the  appointment 
of  God  ?  Do  you  think  that  the  religious  use 
of  water,  in  the  name  of  the  Trinity,  and  in  the 
spirit  of  obedience,  is  not  regarded  by  the  Saviour 
as  the  observance  of  his  institution,  simply  and 
solely  because  the  element  is  not  employed  in 
sufficient  cjuantity,  or  applied  in  the  most  expres- 
sive mode  ?  Can  a  slight  error  or  informality 
neutralize,  and  render  nugatory,  what  in  all  other 
respects  would  constitute  a  sacrifice  such  as  must 
be  well  pleasing  to  God  ?" 

In  this  strain  I  continued  to  speak  with  con- 
siderable warmth  and  fluency  for  some  time,  and 
the  good  minister  sat  gazing  at  me  with  mute 
amazement.  At  the  close  of  my  appeal,  he  simply 
said,  "  Ah  !  you  are  young  yet,  and  you  will,  I 
hope,  take  a  more  scriptural  view  of  the  subject 


22  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

as  you  grow  older  ;'^  and  tlien  he  introduced  ano- 
ther topic.  I  heard  afterwards  that,  on  the  fol- 
lowing morning,  he  remarked  to  my  father's  clerk, 
a  prim  and  puritanical  old  gentleman,  and  a  very 
strait-laced  member  of  the  church,  that  I  ^'  was 
not  half  a  Baptist,"  and  that  he  feared  I  ^'  had 
been  among  the  Independents.'' 

The  effect  of  this  conversation  upon  my  mind 
was  considerable.  Feeling  as  I  then  did  the  in- 
calculable importance  of  what  was  spiritual  in 
religion,  my  soul  revolted  from  a  system  which 
seemed  to  me  to  invest  the  mere  ceremonials  of 
Christianity  with  a  value  of  their  own,  distinct 
from  the  purpose  they  were  intended  to  serve,  and 
superior  to  that  state  of  mind  which  God  regards 
as  of  pre-eminent  worth.  And  the  longer  I  con- 
sidered the  subject,  the  stronger  my  conviction 
became  that  this  was  a  natural  consequence  of 
Baptists  making  a  single  rite  the  point  of  union 
with  each  other,  and  of  separation  from  the  Uni- 
versal Church.  I  thought,  moreover,  that  I  could 
trace  the  baleful  influence  of  selecting  so  narrow  a 
basis  for  their  ecclesiastical  system,  far  beyond  the 
solitary  effect  which  I  had  noticed. 

But  although  I  strongly  disapproved  of  the 
opinions  and  spirit  upon  which  I  have  been  re- 
marking, my  conviction  that  adult  immersion  was 


DOUBTS   AND   DIFFICULTIES.  23 

the  most  scriptural  mode  of  baptism  continued  as 
yet  unchanged.  I  say  ^' conviction/^  but  the 
word  "  impression'^  would  more  accurately  de- 
scribe my  state  of  mind ;  for  as  I  had  neither  read 
any  defence  of  a  different  mode,  nor  carefully  con- 
sidered the  subject,  it  amounted  to  little  more. 
Upon  this  impression,  however,  I  had  been  al- 
most persuaded  to  act,  and  thus  to  connect  myself 
with  the  church  amongst  whose  members  I  had 
been  brought  up.  More  than  once  Mr.  B.  had 
pressed  the  duty  upon  my  attention,  and  had 
urged  me  in  the  accustomed  phraseology  to  "  fol- 
low the  Lord,^^  by  which  he  simply  meant  "  be 
immersed."  Many  other  kind  friends  also  volun- 
teered their  advice  and  exhortations  to  the  same 
effect ;  and  why  it  was  I  know  not,  except  from 
the  hope  that  I  should  succeed  to  my  honoured 
father's  position,  who  was  a  deacon  of  the  church, 
and  what  the  good  people  called  "  a  pillar  of  the 
place '/'  but  there  was  certainly  much  effort  em- 
ployed to  get  me  safely  under  the  water. 

Just  at  that  time,  however,  a  circumstance 
occurred  which  not  only  caused  me  to  hesitate, 
but  which  gave  my  mind  a  new  bias,  and  led  me 
first  to  defer,  and  finally  to  decline  the  religious 
connection  I  was  about  to  form.  At  our  family 
worship   one   evening,  my  father  read  the  third 


24  CONFESSIONS   OF  A  CONVERT. 

chapter  of  Matthew,  wliicli  describes  tlie  char- 
acter and  baptism  of  John ;  and  while  I  listened, 
T  was  struck,  as  I  never  had  been  before,  with 
the  fifth  verse,  in  which  it  is  said,  "  Then  went 
out  to  him  Jerusalem,  and  all  Judea,  and  all  the 
region  round  about  Jordan,  and  were  baptized/^ 
As  soon  as  the  service  was  concluded,  I  re-opened 
the  Bible;  and  having  again  read  the  words, 
"  Jerusalem,  and  all  Judea,  and  all  the  region 
round  about  Jordan,''  I  exclaimed,  "  What  an 
amazing  multitude  must  John  have  baptized,  and 
what  an  amount  of  time  and  labour  must  have 
been  consumed  in  immersing  them  I"  On  the 
following  day  the  same  thought  recurred ',  and 
having  read  the  statement  once  more,  I  resolved, 
if  it  were  possible,  to  ascertain  the  probable  num- 
ber of  the  baptized,  and  the  time  which  must 
have  been  spent  in  such  a  service. 

With  this  design,  I  consulted,  in  the  first 
place,  Josephus,  a  commentary,  and  two  or  three 
other  books,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the 
population  of  Judea  at  the  commencement  of  the 
Christian  era.  But  greater  difficulties  than  I  had 
anticipated  prevented  me  from  obtaining  that 
accurate  information  which  I  desired.  One  con- 
clusion, however,  appeared  to  me  incontroverti- 
ble,— that,  at  the  lowest  calculation,  the  number 


DOUBTS   AND   DIFFICULTIES.  25 

could  not  have  been  less  than  a  million  and  a 
half.  What  proportion  of  these  might  have 
been  baptized  could^  of  course,  be  only  a  matter 
of  conjecture;  but  when  I  considered  the  great 
popularity  of  John,  and  the  strong  and  universal 
terms  by  which  the  numbers  are  described,  I 
was  convinced  that  the  total  could  not  be  less 
than  one-third  of  the  people,  nor  under  half  a 
million. 

Having  satisfied  myself  upon  this  point,  I  pro- 
ceeded to  compute  the  period  which  must  have 
been  consumed  in  their  immersion.  From  having 
frequently  witnessed  the  process,  I  knew  that 
baptism  by  this  mode  could  not  be  administered 
to  an  individual,  with  suitable  deliberation  and 
gravity,  in  less  time  than  two  minutes,  and,  with 
the  utmost  despatch  consistent  with  decorum,  that 
more  than  thirty  could  not  be  immersed  in  an 
hour.  Assuming  this  to  be  the  average  rate  at 
which  John  performed  the  service,  and  supposing 
that  he  thus  spent  ten  hours  of  every  day,  I  was 
conducted  to  the  conclusion  that  he  might  bap- 
tize two  thousand  weekly,  or  about  one  hundred 
thousand  in  a  year;  from  which  it  was  evident 
that,  had  he  spent  no  part  of  this  time  in  travel- 
ling, preaching,  or  other  employments,  but  con- 
tinued almost  without  intermission  in  the  water, 
3 


26  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

he  must  have  devoted  five  years  of  labour  to  this 
single  work  !  I  was  confounded  at  the  result  of 
this  calculation;  for  I  knew,  from  previous 
thought  and  reading,  that  his  public  ministry 
could  not  have  exceeded  a  year,  and  was  probably 
restricted  to  a  still  shorter  period. 

This  inquiry  shook  my  previous  faith  in  the 
divine  authority  of  immersion;  and  it  also  re- 
called to  my  recollection  a  conversation  I  had 
heard,  a  few  months  before,  between  my  uncle 
and  my  father  on  the  subject  of  John's  baptism, 
in  which  the  question  was  proposed,  whether,  sup- 
posing that  John's  disciples  were  immersed,  they 
submitted  to  this  process  in  their  usual  dress  or 
naked, — or,  if  not,  whether  they  had  brought 
changes  of  raiment  with  them  for  the  purpose, 
and  had  constructed  sheds,  or  pitched  tents  on  the 
banks  of  the  river,  in  which  they  could  privately 
prepare  for  the  service.  My  excellent  parent 
perceived  the  difficulty  in  which  he  would  be  in- 
volved by  adopting  either  of  these  hypotheses; 
and  therefore  like  the  Pharisees,  when  pressed 
with  another  perplexing  cjuestion  respecting  the 
same  baptism,  he  prudently  replied  that  he  could 
not  tell.  My  uncle,  however,  would  not  be  satis- 
fied with  this  evasion,  and  proceeded  to  show 
that  each  of  the  suppositions  was  equally  impro- 


DOUBTS   AND   DIFFICULTIES.  27 

bable.  He  added,  moreover,  wbat  struck  me  at 
the  time,  that  as  there  must  have  been  women  as 
well  as  men  who  crowded  to  John's  ministry, 
nothing  could  be  more  unlikely,  more  contrary  to 
the  usage  of  the  country  and  the  people,  or  more 
revolting  to  the  feelings  and  habits  of  Eastern 
females,  than  to  have  consented  to  be  publicly 
plunged  by  a  man  in  the  presence  of  a  gazing 
multitude. 

Shortly  after  this,  Mr.  B.  called  at  my  father's 
house;  and  having,  pointedly  asked  me  why  I 
lingered  on  the  threshold  of  the  church,  I  deemed 
it  my  duty  candidly  to  confess  the  perplexities  in 
which  my  thoughts  had  been  recently  entangled.^ 
These,  however,  he  ascribed  to  "carnal  reason- 
ings ;'^  and  questioned  whether  such  doubts  had 
not  come  from  the  great  deceiver.  I  did  not  feel 
very  much  flattered  by  these  explanations  of  what 
I  believed  to  be  the  sincere  operations  of  an  up- 
right mind;  nor  was  I  convinced,  when  he  at- 
tempted to  remove  the  doubts  which  I  had  sug- 
gested, and  to  settle  the  point  for  ever,  by  dog- 
matically declaring,  whatever  others  might  say  to 
the  contrary,  that  the  word  haptizo  always  meant 
to  dip,  and  that  therefore  John  could  have  ad- 
ministered the  ordinance  in  no  other  way.  I  was 
the  less  satisfied  with  this  summary  mode  of  dis- 


28  CONFESSIONS   OF   A  CONVERT. 

posing  of  my  difficulties,  because  I  was  aware  that 
my  minister,  notwithstanding  the  oracular  style 
and  sonorous  tone  in  which  he  mouthed  the  term 
^^  baptizo/'  was  yet  profoundly  ignorant  even  of 
the  Greek  alphabet. 

As  I  felt  myself  (though  not  altogether  igno- 
rant of  the  original  language  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment) nearly  as  much  disqualified  as  my  pastor 
for  the  settlement  of  a  point  upon  which  profound 
scholars  differed,  by  any  reference  to  Greek 
authors,  I  simply  expressed  my  surprise  that  he 
should  speak  so  confidently  on  the  subject;  and 
added,  that  "  if  the  original  word  always  meant 
what  he  had  affirmed,  one  way  by  which  his 
opinion  might  be  tested,  would  be  to  translate 
every  passage  where  it  occurs  in  accordance  with 
his  theory.^'  By  this  process,  I  suggested,  an 
unlearned  reader,  such  as  myself,  (for  I  did  not 
offend  the  worthy  man  by  using  the  plural  pro- 
noun,) might  form  some  idea  of  the  fitness,  at 
least,  of  such  a  signification.  I  proposed,  there- 
fore, that  we  should  select  a  few  passages,  and 
substitute  the  words  "  dip"  and  "  dipping"  for 
"  baptize"  and  "  baptism."  To  this  he  yielded  his 
assent.  But  he  did  it  so  reluctantly  as  to  convey 
the  impression  to  my  mind,  that  he  was  apprehen- 
sive the  result  would  not  be  exactly  what  he  de- 


DOUBTS   AND   DIFFICULTIES.  29 

sired.     I  resolved,  however,  to  apply  the  test; 
and   havinj!:   taken   a   concordance,   I   turned   to 
several  texts,  and  translated  them  in   the   new 
style.     A  few  of  these  I  remember,  and  will  here 
repeat,     ^^I   indeed    dip   you   with   water    unto 
repentance ;    but    he   that   cometh   after   me   is 
mightier  than  I,  whose  shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to 
bear :  he  shall  dip  you  with  the  Holy  Grhost,  and 
with   fire.^'     "John   did  dip  in  the  wilderness, 
and    preach    the    dipping   of   repentance. '^     "I 
have  a  dipping  to  be  dipped  yNiih. -,  and  how  am 
I   straitened    till    it   be   accomplished !"     "  The 
dipping  of  John,  was  it  from  heaven  or  of  men  V 
"  The   dipping  which  John  preached.''     "  And 
he   said   unto   them.    Unto  what   then  were  ye 
dij^ped  ?     And  they  said.  Unto  John's  dipping^ 
"Jesus  said  unto  them,  Ye  know  not  what  ye 
ask:  can  ye  drink  of  the  cup  that  I  drink  of, 
and   be   dipped  with    the   dipping    that   I   am 
dipped  with?"     "Know   ye   not   that  so  many 
of  us    as  were    dipped  into   Jesus   Christ  were 
dipped  into  his  death  ?     Therefore  we  are  buried 
with  him  by  dipping  into  death."     "  And  were 
all  dipped  unto  Moses  in  the  cloud  and  in  the 
sea."     "For   by   one    Spirit   are  we  all  dipped 
into  one  body."     "  Else  what  shall  they  do  who 
are  dipped  for  the  dead,  if  the  dead  rise  not  at 
3* 


30  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

all  ?  wliy  are  they  tlien  dipped  for  the  dead  ?" 
"As  many  of  you  as  have  been  dipped  unto  Christ 
have  put  on  Christ/' 

As  I  thus  read  these  passages,  the  conviction 
came  upon  me  with  irresistible  force  that  the  ori- 
ginal term  could  not  bear  the  meaning  which  the 
Baptists  attempt  to  fasten  upon  it ;  and  when  I 
had  concluded,  I  stared  at  the  minister, .  and  he 
stared  at  me.  In  this  rather  ludicrous  position 
we  sat  for  a  short  time  )  and  finding  that  he  did 
not,  as  I  expected,  break  the  silence,  I  ventured 
to  ask  him,  whether  he  could  believe  that  such 
translations  correctly  answered  to  the  words  of  in- 
spired wisdom,  and  whether  they  did  not  turn  the 
solemn  and  sublime  instructions  of  Scripture  into 
sheer  nonsense,  or  the  grossest  absurdity.  To 
this  he  would  not  assent :  when  I  begged  him  to 
explain  to  me  the  meaning  of  such  expressions  as 
^^  dipped  with  the  Holy  Grhost;"  ^^  dipped  with 
fire ;"  '^  dipped  into  one  spirit ;"  "  dipped  into 
death;"  ^^  dipped  into  Christ ;''  and  "preaching 
a  dipping  of  repentance. '^  My  request,  however, 
was  made  in  vain.  The  worthy  pastor  was  evi- 
dently puzzled,  though  he  would  not  confess  it ; 
and  shortly  afterwards  he  pleaded  want  of  time, 
and  took  his  departure,  much  preferring,  as  it  ap- 
peared to  me,  the  passage  from  the  house  into  the 


DOUBTS   AND   DIFFICULTIES.  81 

street,  to  any  one  of  those  which  I  had  pointed 
out  to  him. 

Mr.  B.,  at  the  time  of  his  visit,  was  evidently 
anxious  that  I  should  form  one  of  a  company  of 
candidates  for  church  fellowship,  who  were  to  be 
immersed  about  three  weeks  afterwards.  He  had 
also  ventured  prematurely  to  express  his  belief  to 
several  persons  that  I  should  be  of  the  number. 
When,  therefore,  the  reason  of  my  hesitation 
transpired,  it  created  much  surprise  and  specula- 
tion. Many  minds  and  many  mouths  were  filled 
with  sundry  surmisings  as  to  the  real  cause  of  this 
delay,  few  of  which  were  charitable  or  correct. 
But  another  circumstance,  which  occurred  at  the 
same  time,  produced  a  still  greater  stir.  Amongst 
the  attendants  at  our  chapel,  there  were  two  very 
intelligent  and  devout  young  ladies,  who  had  three 
years  before  left  the  Established  Church,  in  which 
they  were  brought  up,  because  they  could  not 
profit  by  the  preaching  which  they  heard  there. 
As  their  hearts  and  their  income  were  large,  and 
their  habits  inexpensive,  their  liberality  was  felt 
by  a  great  number  of  the  poor,  and  at  public  col 
lections  their  contribution  generally  exceeded  that 
of  others.  But  their  health  was  extremely  deli- 
cate ;  and  by  most  they  were  considered  as  des- 
tined to  an  early  grave.     One  of  them  suffered 


32  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

from  an  affection  of  the  spine,  and  serious  appre- 
hensions were  entertained  that  consumption  had 
commenced  its  fatal  course  in  the  other.     By  the 
perusal  of  books  in  favour  of  immersion,  with 
which  they  had  been  copiously  supplied,  together 
with  the  earnest  persuasives  of  Mr.  B.,  the  sisters 
were  brought  to  believe  that  it  became  them  in 
this  way  to  profess  the  gospel.    As  their  dif&dence, 
however,  amounted  almost  to  a  disease,  and  they 
secluded  themselves  much  from  society,  they  suf- 
fered a  long  and  severe  mental  conflict,  before 
they  could  so  far  control  their  feelings  as  to  sub- 
mit to  a  ceremonial,  which  would  expose  them  to 
what  they  deemed  a  most  distressing  publicity. 
But  they  were  still  more  powerfully  influenced  by 
a  fear,  that  the  service  in  their  case  might  prove 
as  perilous  as  it  was  painful.     Yet  strong  as  these 
objections   seemed,  they  had  at  length  been  si- 
lenced, partly  by  the  confident  manner  in  which 
they  were  assured  by  our  minister  that  God  would 
preserve  them  from  all  evil  in  the  observance  of  his 
own  ordinance,  but  principally  by  the  conviction 
that   this   was  a   part  of   the   cross   which   the 
Christian  was  commanded  to  carry.     Although, 
therefore,  their  repugnance  and  apprehensions  re- 
mained, a  sense  of  duty  preponderated. 

But  their  feelings  were  spared;  and  their  con- 


DOUBTS   AND  DIFFICULTIES.  33 

sciences  satisfied,  by  a  striking,  though,  I  believe, 
by  no  means  a  singular  occurrence.  About  a 
month  prior  to  their  decision,  a  baptismal  service 
had  been  performed  at  a  small  town  a  few  miles 
from  us ;  and  amongst  the  immersed  there  was  a 
young  woman,  at  the  time  in  apparently  sound 
health,  who  caught  a  severe  cold  in  the  service, 
which  speedily  ran  on  to  fever,  delirium,  and 
death.  The  cause  was  so  evident,  and  the  whole 
case  so  clear,  that  even  the  most  contracted  Bap- 
tists in  our  congregation  (and  there  were  those 
who  seemed  to  think  that  God  would  actually 
work  a  miracle  to  counteract  what,  in  some  con- 
stitutions, would  be  the  certain  consequence  of 
immersion,)  were  confounded ;  whilst  others  con- 
fessed that  ^'  it  was  a  most  mysterious  providence.'' 
This  circumstance  came  to  the  ears  of  the  two 
sisters,  and  it  afi'ected  them  deeply.  Their  first 
step  was  to  send  for  Mr.  B. ;  but  as  he  still  assured 
them  of  their  safety,  without  assigning,  as  they 
thought,  any  reason  for  such  assurance,  or  produc- 
ing a  divine  warrant  to  that  efiect,  they  were  not 
satisfied ;  and  therefore  they  wisely  resolved  to  do 
what  they  now  perceived  ought  to  have  been  done 
before,  viz.,  to  consult  their  medical  attendant  on 
the  subject.  His  judgment  was  very  strong.  He 
said  it  would  be  perilous  in  the  extreme,  and  that 


34  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

he  knew  scarcely  any  cause  more  calculated  to 
quicken  incipient  disease  and  accelerate  death. 
This  decided  them.  Convinced  that  He  who  de- 
sireth  mercy  and  not  sacrifice,  could  not  require 
them  in  such  a  way  to  hazard  their  lives,  they 
wisely  declined  the  service.  As  their  case  had 
created  considerable  interest,  and  their  expected 
accession  to  the  church  was  deemed  of  much  im- 
portance, their  withdrawment  caused  more  com- 
motion than  even  my  delay. 

What  might  have  been  the  effect  of  this  occur- 
rence upon  others  I  cannot  state  ;  but  it  suggested 
to  my  own  mind  a  train  of  reflections  which 
strengthened  my  previous  suspicion,  that  immer- 
sion could  not  be  the  only  proper  mode  of  baptism. 
As  far  as  I  can  now  recall  them,  my  thoughts  ran 
in  some  such  train  as  this.  Christianity  is  a  uni- 
versal system.  It  is  designed  for  the  world.  One 
of  its  distinguishing  features,  which  is  also  one  of 
the  clearest  evidences  of  its  divine  origin,  is  the 
exact  and  entire  adaptation  of  its  regulatioaS'ln^ 
requirements  to  every  community,  class,  and  crea- 
ture under  heaven.  To  say  the  least,  each  of  its 
doctrines,  and  promises,  and  injunctions,  and  insti- 
tutions, is  perfectly  fitted  to  men  of  every  clime, 
character,  and  condition.  Whether  they  dwell  in 
Iceland  or  Ethiopia,  in  the  city  or  the  wilderness, 


DOUBTS   AND   DIFFICULTIES.  35 

amidst  the  sands  of  the  desert  or  the  springs  of 
the  valley,  it  ordains  no  service,  and  requires  no 
observance,  which  may  not  be  readily  performed. 
It  is  not  a  religion  of  sacred  places,  set  seasons, 
and  costly  sacrifices.  Its  ritual  is  simple,  not 
severe — suited  not  to  the  healthy  and  robust  alone, 
but  also  to  the  delicate  woman  and  the  man  of 
gray  hairs.  And  this  interesting  peculiarity  of 
the  whole  scheme  evidently  belonged  to  the  bap- 
tismal rite  as  practised  in  the  primitive  age.  It 
could  be  administered  in  any  place,  or  at  any  time. 
Wherever  the  apostles  preached,  there  and  then 
they  could  baptize.  In  the  city  or  the  desert,  the 
house  or  the  prison,  it  was  equally  and  always 
easy.  There  was  no  difficulty,  no  delay,  no  ex- 
emption. Age  caused  no  hesitation ;  health  con- 
stituted no  barrier.  Friends  were  not  alarmed  ; 
physicians  were  not  consulted.  The  gloom  of  mid- 
night was  as  favourable  for  its  performance  as  the 
brightness  of  noon.  Families  could  observe  the 
rite  on  the  very  first  hour  of  their  hearing  the 
gospel ;  and  thousands,  apparently  without  diffi- 
culty, on  the  very  day,  and  probably  in  the  very 
place  of  their  conviction.  All  this  appeared  to 
me  to  agree  well  with  the  general  adaptation  of 
Christianity  to  man's  changing  circumstances,  and 
with  the  opinion  that  baptism  was  administered 


36  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

by  the  simple  and  easy  method  of  sprinkling ;  but 
how  to  harmonize  the  views  of  Immersionists  with 
either  the  genius  of  the  gospel,  or  the  practice 
of  the  primitive  age,  I  could  not  discover. 

I  was  also  impressed  with  the  contrast  between 
this  painful  and  most  repulsive  mode  of  baptizing, 
and  the  gentle  and  generous  spirit  which  pervades 
and  adorns  the  other  requirements  of  Christianity. 
All  these  furnish  a  large  and  admirable  commen- 
tary upon  the  declaration,  ^^  As  a  father  pitieth 
his  children,  so  the  Lord  pitieth  them  that  fear 
him  :  for  he  knoweth  our  frame ;  he  remembereth 
that  we  are  dust.''  In  this  respect,  its  services 
are  invested  with  a  character  essentially  different 
from  the  rigid  rites  of  Judaism.  It  insists  upon 
no  specific  ritual.  It  prescribes  no  precise  points 
or  punctilios,  the  non-observance  .of  which  would 
vitiate  our  obedience  to  its  general  requirements. 
No  pattern  of  the  spiritual  structure,  such  as 
Moses  saw  on  Mount  Sinai,  was  shown  to  Peter, 
or  Paul,  or  John.  No  pains  nor  penalties  are 
threatened  for  slight  violations  of  the  letter  or 
rubric  of  a  ceremonial  institute.  Much  is  left 
open.  A  large  measure  of  liberty  is  conceded  to 
the  Christian.  A  generous  confidence  is  reposed 
in  the  church.  For  public  worship  no  precise 
form  has  been  prescribed,  so  assured  was  the  di- 


DOUBTS   AND  DIFFICULTIES.  37 

vine  Author  of  the  gospel  that  he  might  safely 
leave  such  details  to  the  enlightened  and  devout 
affections  of  his  disciples.     And  even  the  solemn 
rite  which  was  designed  to    ^^  show  the  Lord's 
death  till  he  come-  is  described  in  very  general 
terms;  and  instead  of  being  enjoined  upon  the 
conscience  by  authority  and  threatening,  it  is  com- 
mended to  the  heart  by  the  gentle  and  tender 
appeal,  ^^  This  do  in  remembrance  of  me/'     And 
the  other  ordinance,  baptism,  could  in  my  view  be 
no  exception  to  this  rule.     Indeed,  I  thought  I 
perceived  this,  not  merely  in  the  perfect  ease  with 
which  It  was  administered  and  received  in  apos- 
tolic  times,  but  in  the  very  indefiniteness  of  the 
original  terms,  and  even  in  the  disputes  which 
have  hence  arisen  amongst  those  who  would  be 
^^  wise  above  what  is  written,''— ^^  servants,''  who 
certainly  in  this  point  are  not  '^  above  their  Lord." 
I  was  much  impressed  with  the  conviction  that, 
had  immersion  been  essential,  the  law  of  baptism' 
would  have  been  promulgated  in  language  widely 
different  from  what  it  is.     We  should  then  have 
had  very  minute  directions,  in  words  of  no  mere 
general,  and  certainly  of  no  doubtful  import.  But 
this  would  have  been  as  alien  from  the  spirit  of 
Christianity  as  it  would  be  accordant  with  the 
principles  of  the  Baptists. 
4 


58  CONFESSIONS   OP   A   CONVERT. 

For  some  time,  these  and  similar  reasonings 
suggested  themselves  to  my  thoughts ;  and  firmly 
believing  in  the  suitableness  of  every  Christian 
ordinance  to  the  case  of  all  nations,  I  one  day  re- 
solved to  consider  whether  this  could  be  affirmed 
of  immersion.  I  therefore  took  a  map  of  the 
world,  and  viewed  the  subject  in  relation  to  some 
of  its  most  important  divisions. 

One  thing,  at  the  outset  of  this  inquiry,  oc- 
curred to  me,  that  whether  immersion  might  or 
might  not  be  adapted  to  the  climate  of  the  difier- 
ent  regions  of  the  earth,  it  certainly  does  not  suit 
the  customs  of  many  of  their  inhabitants ;  nor 
could  it  be  generally  practised,  unless  their  social 
habits  were  completely  changed.  This  is  parti- 
cularly the  case  with  Eastern  nations,  by  whom 
nothing  would  be  deemed  more  indecent,  or  felt  to 
be  more  revolting,  than  the  public  exposure  of 
their  wives  and  daughters,  and  their  immersion  by 
a  man.  And  this  very  feeling,  be  it  remembered, 
has  been  inherited  from  their  ancestors,  and  ex- 
isted in  all  its  force  when  the  apostles  baptized  in 
the  very  countries  where  it  is  still  found.  Strange, 
then,  that  a  rite  so  offensive  should  have  been 
practised  with  such  ease  ;  and  stranger  still,  that 
it  should  ever  have  been  enjoined. 

But  the  difficulty  arising  from  climate  seemed 


DOUBTS   AND   DIFFICULTIES.  89 

to  me  more  formidable  than  that  produced   by 
custom.     Even   in   our  own   country,  and  other 
temperate  regions  upon  which  my  eye  rested  as  I 
looked  over  the  map,  I  well  knew  that  immersion 
was  far  from  being  so  suitable  and  safe  as  might 
have  been  expected  in  any  institution  which  the 
wise  and  gracious  Saviour  appointed  to  be  univer- 
sally  observed.     On   the   contrary,    I   was   con- 
vinced that  it  was  generally   inconvenient,   and 
frequently   dangerous.     I    knew,    from    medical 
testimony,  as  well  as  my  own  reasoning,  that  in 
many  cases  where  only  a  predisposition  existed  to 
cerebral  or  inflammatory  affections,  to  congestion, 
to  consumption,  and  to  numerous  other  maladies, 
death  could  only  be  averted  by  miracle ;  and  that 
to    submit    to    such    a    service,    where    serious 
diseases  had  begun  to  develope  themselves,  would 
be  madness,   if  not  murder.     Such  would  often 
be  the  consequence  even  during  the  months  of 
summer,   and   much   more   amid   the   snows   of 
winter. 

I  was  well  aware  that  in  warmer  regions,  like 
Judea,  the  pain  and  peril  which  attend  immer- 
sion under  the  clouds  and  cold  of  higher  lati- 
tudes would  be  diminished.  But  in  these  coun- 
tries, where  the  heat  is  frequently  intense,  and 
the  drought  all  but  universal,  the  scarcity  and 


40  CONFESSIONS   OF  A  CONVERT. 

value  of  the  element,  so  much  of  which  is  requi- 
site for  immersing  a  multitude,  presented  a  diffi- 
culty of  another  kind,  hardly  less  formidable. 
Even  in  our  own  country,  I  knew  what  special 
provision,  and  sometimes  protracted  preparation, 
were  requisite  prior  to  such  a  service;  and 
aware,  from  the  statements  of  Oriental  travellers, 
that  few  wants  were  more  commonly  or  keenly 
felt  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  East  than  that  of 
water,  and  that  a  quantity  sufficient  for  immersion 
could  in  few  situations  be  obtained  without  con- 
siderable cost  and  labour,  I  concluded  that  no 
appointment  could  well  have  been  more  unsuited 
to  their  circumstances.  This  I  was  assured,  both 
from  scriptural  statements  and  from  modern 
tourists,  must  have  been  the  case  in  Judea,  where 
the  Jordan  was  the  only  river,  and  where, 
throughout  a  considerable  portion  of  the  year, 
the  few  narrow  channels,  occasionally  filled  with 
mountain  torrents,  or  fed  from  intermitting 
springs,  are  entirely  dry.  I  knew,  moreover,  that 
a  solitary  well  supplied  the  city  of  Samaria ;  and 
that  the  springing  up  of  a  small  fountain  was  the 
strong  and  frequently  the  sole  reason  for  the  en- 
campment of  armies,  or  the  erection  of  towns. 
There  were,  indeed,  baths  in  the  dwellings  of  the 
opulent  3  but  to  suppose  that  the  fishermen  of 


DOUBTS   AND   DIFFICULTIES.  41 

Galilee  could  command  such  expensive  luxuries, 
or  conduct  their  numerous  converts  from  amongst 
the  poor  into  the  abodes  of  the  wealthy  and 
noble,  for  the  purpose  of  turning  their  baths  into 
baptisteries,  is  one  of  those  incredible  and  mon- 
strously absurd  imaginations  to  which  none 
would  resort,  but  those  who  were  driven  by  truth 
and  reason  from  the  fair  field  of  fact  and  argu- 
ment. Such  reflections  confirmed  my  previous 
conviction,  that  dipping  does  not  accord  with  a 
religion  designed  to  be  universal,  and  cannot  be 
the  baptism  which  Jesus  Christ  instituted  for 
"  all  nations." 

Even  to  entertain  the  question,  whether  immer- 
sion was  adapted  to  Grreenland,  Iceland,  Siberia, 
and   similar   lands,  where,  during  much   of  the 
year,  water  is  obtainable  in  small  quantities,  and 
merely  for  common  use,  only  by  dissolving  ice  or 
snow,  seemed  most  absurd.     I  was  convinced  that 
it  could  not  be  a  question,  and  that  of  all  possible 
modes  this  would  be  the  most  difficult  and  unsuit- 
able.    The   suggestion   pressed   itself    upon   my 
mind  that,  instead  of  possessing  the  fitness  which 
•characterizes  and  commends  all   God's   arrange- 
ments, and  forms  so  marked  a  feature  of  the  gos- 
pel,   had   the   great   Author  of   this   institution 

designed  to  encumber  it,  and  render  its  observance 
4  * 


42  CONFESSIONS  OF   A  CONVERT. 

inconvenient,  painful,  perilous,  and,  in  many 
situations,  impracticable,  dipping  was  the  very 
mode  which  he  would  have  enjoined. 

These,  and  other  topics  connected  with  baptism, 
engaged  much  of  my  attention  at  this  time ;  for  I 
not  only  felt  the  necessity  of  thoroughly  exa- 
mining the  subject,  but  found  myself  placed  by 
the  importunities  and  displeasure  of  several  Bap- 
tist friends  on  the  defensive,  and  therefore  com- 
pelled to  give  a  reason  for  the  hesitation  I  had 
discovered.  I  was  also  plentifully  supplied  with 
books  and  tracts  in  favour  of  immersion,  which,  in 
courtesy  no  less  than  from  inclination,  I  care- 
fully perused.  Their  only  result,  however,  was 
to  suggest  new  objections  to  the  mode,  and  to 
establish  me  in  the  belief  that  the  common  argu- 
ments in  its  favour  were  the  weakest  sophisms, 
and  that  there  was  not  a  text  of  Scripture  which 
rendered  it  the  least  support. 


PART   II. 

REMINISCENCES   AND   KEFLECTIONS. 

Although,  in  consequence  of  the  withdraw- 
ment  of  myself,  and  of  the  young  ladies  referred 
to  in  a  preceding  page,  the  number  of  candidates 
had  been  reduced,  the  public  baptism  of  the  re- 
mainder was  not  deferred.     On  that  occasion  I 
of  course,  occupied  my  accustomed  place  in  our 
chapel ;  but  frequently  as  I  had  attended  similar 
services,  I  had  never  witnessed  one  with  similar 
feelings.     My  recent  reflections,  and  my  peculiar 
circumstances,  had  invested  the  performance,  and 
everything  relating  to  it,  with  unusual  interest. 
When  I  had  been  a  spectator  of  such  proceedings 
before,   I  had  surveyed  them  with  a  somewhat 
easy  and  passive  acquiescence.     Taught  from  my 
childhood  to  regard  the  performance  as  scriptural, 
I  had  never  dared  to  criticise  its  character,  or  to 
question  its  propriety.     And  yet  some  vivid  and 
enduring  impressions  had  been  left  upon  my  mind 
by  these  services,  which  certainly  were  not  much 

(43) 


44  CONEESSIONS   OF  A  CONVERT. 

calculated  to  foster  those  serious  feelings  with 
which  everything  sacred  should  be  regarded. 
During  my  childhood  and  youth,  public  immer- 
sions were  simply,  but  very  specially,  amusing  to 
me.  Most  vividly  do  the  feelings  still  recur, 
(and  had  I  been  a  Baptist,  I  am  sure  they  would 
have  blended  painfully  with  better  thoughts,) 
which  arose  high  in  my  little  heart,  when  my 
father  lifted  me  up  in  his  arms,  or  stood  me  upon 
the  seat,  to  see  the  people  go  down  into  the  bap- 
tistery, and  to  watch  Mr.  B.  (which  I  did  "with 
all  my  eyes")  as  he  took'hold  of  them  one  after 
another,  and  "  pushed  them,"  as  I  was  then  ac- 
customed to  describe  it,  "  right  under  the  water." 
But  although  the  entire  spectacle  was  interesting, 
on  one  or  two  of  these  occasions  there  were  some 
circumstances  which  specially  impressed  me,  and 
somewhat  heightened  the  sort  of  holiday  feeling 
with  which  I  enjoyed  them.  One  of  these  was 
the  shrill  scream  of  a  woman,  as  she  felt  herself 
going  under  the  water.  Another  was  the  strug- 
gling of  a  young  person,  who  succeeded  in  wrench- 
ing herself  from  the  minister's  grasp,  and  fell 
with  a  loud  splash  into  the  baptistery.  More 
than  once,  I  recollected  that  persons  fainted  in 
the  water ;  and  I  distinctly  retain  the  image  of 
the  ghastly  and  death-like  countenance  of  a  wo- 


REMINISCENCES   AND   REFLECTIONS.  45 

man,  as  her  head  hung  back,  wet  and  motionless, 
over  the  arm  of  the  person  who  dragged  her  into 
the  vestry.  At  another  time,  in  an  oblivious 
moment,  I  actually  burst  out  into  a  loud  laugh, 
and  clapped  my  little  hands  with  unutterable  de- 
light, (for  which,  however,  I  was  instantly  deposed 
from  my  elevated  standing-place,  and  sent  to  bed 
as  soon  as  I  reached  home,)  to  see  Mr.  B.,  who, 
as  I  have  said,  was  a  short,  stiff,  portly  person, 
lose  his  balance  and  his  footing,  while  attempting 
to  immerse  a  man  twice  his  own  bulk,  and  him- 
self fall  sideways,  and  with  no  small  stir  and 
splutter,  into  the  water 

But  these  juvenile  reminiscences,  and  the 
apathy  which  had  succeeded  them  as  I  grew 
older,  were  now  supplanted  by  a  disposition  to 
survey  the  scene  as  an  unbiassed  spectator,  and 
to  ascertain,  if  possible,  the  impression  which  it 
was  calculated  to  make  upon  pious  strangers,  or 
the  unconverted  world. 

There  was  another  cause  which  gave  a  pecu- 
liarity to  my  state  of  mind  on  this  occasion.  I 
knew  that,  in  consequence  of  the  circumstances 
narrated,  the  service  was  deemed  extraordinary, 
and  that  during  it  many  thoughts  would  be  turned 
towards  me,  and  strong  desires  cherished  that  by 


46  CONFESSIONS   Or  A  CONVEHT. 

the  discourse  which  was  then  to  be  deliveredj  I 
might  be  either  confounded  or  convinced. 

It  is  the  common  custom  for  two  ministers  to 
be  engaged  at  these  services ;  one  to  preach,  and 
the  other  to  baptize.  This  arrangement  is  in- 
tendedj  I  believe,  to  preserve  the  preacher,  after 
he  has  heated  himself  by  his  advocacy  of  much 
water,  (and  on  few  occasions  does  his  blood  rise 
so  near  to  the  boiling  point,)  from  the  extreme 
danger  of  immediately  descending  from  the  pulpit 
to  the  pool.  And  no  one  can  question  the  pru- 
dence of  this  division  of  labour,  especially  for  the 
sake  of  such  short-necked,  apoplectic  subjects  as 
Mr.  B.  But,  however  discreet,  it  is  difficult  to 
reconcile  its  necessity,  either  with  the  wisdom  of 
Him  who  commanded  his  disciples  to  "  teach  all 
nations,  haptizing  them  -,"  or  with  the  fact,  that 
neither  John  at  the  Jordan,  nor  the  apostles  on 
the  day  of  Pentecost,  who  both  preached  and  bap- 
tized during  one  service,  and  who  did  not  possess 
the  modern  and  luxurious  preservatives  of  Mack- 
intosh overalls  and  mud  boots,  needed  any  such 
security  against  disease, — a  circumstance  which 
makes  one  shrewdly  suspect  that  tlieir  mode 
of  baptism  and  that  of  the  Immersionists  do  not 
agree. 


REMINISCENCES    AND   REFLECTIONS.  47 

The  minister  who  had  been  engaged  to  occupy 
the  pulpit  on  this  occasion  was  extremely  popular 
in  his  own  denomination,  and  was  deemed  the 
most  powerful  advocate  of  their  peculiarities  in 
that  part  of  the  country.  He  was  well  known  in 
our  town,  and  much  admired  by  our  congregation. 
Whenever  he  visited  us,  our  chapel  was  crowded ; 
and  in  general  his  sermons  were  powerfully  im- 
pressive. But  I  was  not  singular  in  the  opinion 
that  he  had  been  solicited  to  take  a  part  in  this 
service,  not  so  much  on  account  of  his  general 
solemnity,  as  of  his  controversial  skill.  And  it 
was  very  currently  reported  that  he  was  called  in 
specially  to  demolish  the  objections  which  I  was 
known  to  entertain  to  immersion  ;  and  by  some  it 
was  most  confidently  predicted  that  I  should  be 
made  ashamed  of  them,  and  of  myself. 

These  rumours  had  reached  my  ear,  but  they 
did  not  disturb  me.  I  was  thoroughly  open  to 
conviction,  and  fully  prepared  to  retrace  my  steps, 
and  .submit  to  immersion,  whenever  scriptural 
reasons  for  it  were  advanced.  Nor,  although  I 
considered  the  references  too  pointed,  and  not  in 
good  taste,  did  I  fail  to  join  in  the  petition,  which 
was  more  than  once  repeated  during  the  prayer 
before  the  sermon,  that  what  was  about  to  be  ad- 
vanced from  the  pulpit  might  "  convince  the  gain- 


48  CONFESSIONS   OP   A  CONVERT. 

sayers,  confirm  the  wavering,  and  remove  all  pre- 
judice against  the  ordinances  of  the  Lord!"  I 
could  also  adopt  the  supplications  then  presented, 
though  I  could  not  sympathize  with  what  I  feared 
to  be  the  spirit  and  design  by  which  they  were 
dictated,  "that  the  enemies  of  the  truth  might 
not  be  permitted  to  scatter  tares  amongst  the 
wheat,  that  objectors  might  renounce  their  carnal 
reasonings,  and  that  timid  disciples  might  no 
longer  consult  flesh  and  blood  by  following  the 
Lord  afar  off/' 

I  thought,  moreover,  that  the  hymn  which  was 
sung  after  the  prayer  had  been  selected  with  a 
similar  reference  to  local  circumstances.  It  was 
the  447th  of  Dr.  Rippon's  selection, — a  part  of 
which  contains  a  very  strange  accommodation  to 
adult  immersion  of  the  words  "Hinder  me  not;" 
which  were  addressed  by  Abraham's  servant  to 
the  relatives  of  Rebecca,  when  they  said  to  him, 
"  Let  the  damsel  abide  with  us  a  few  days.''  One 
verse  especially  seemed  to  me  a  most  unwarrant- 
able misappropriation  of  a  solemn  sentiment,  and 
of  the  Saviour's  example,  to  a  doubtful  and  dis- 
puted form, — 

"  Through  floods  and  flames,  if  Jesus  lead, 

I'll  follow  where  he  goes : 
'  Hinder  me  not/  shall  be  my  cry, 

Though  earth  and  hell  oppose." 


REMINISCENCES   AND   REFLECTIONS.  49 

Probably  I  might  not  have  noticed  this  verse 
80  much,  had  it  not  been  read  in  an  unusually 
high  pitch  of  voice,  and  attracted  towards  my- 
self the  furtive  glances  of  several,  who  evi- 
dently thought  that  I  ought  to  be  confounded  by 
it. 

When  the  preacher,  arose  all  eyes  were  fastened 
upon  him,  and  a  remarkable  stillness  was  main- 
tained while  he  announced  his  text.  It  was  from 
Ephesians,  iv.  5, — "  One  baptism. ^^  And  I  well 
remember  that,  as  he  read  it  the  first  time,  he 
gave  a  very  singular  and  significant  emphasis  to 
the  word  "  one/'  and  accompanied  the  utterance 
with  an  expressive  glance  of  his  eyes,  and  a  pecu- 
liar shake  of  the  head,  which  were  evidently  in- 
tended to  convey  to  us  the  preacher's  full  belief 
that  this  passage  settled  the  whole  controversy. 
This  kind  of  oratory  was  varied  when  he  repeated 
the  text.  He  then  paused  after  the  word  "  one'^ 
for  several  seconds ;  and  during  this  hiatus  turned 
himself  to  each  gallery,  and  looked  down  upon  the 
area  of  the  place,  bestowing,  as  I  thought,  more 
attention  to  our*  pew  than  it  deserved,  as  if  to 
defy  all  gainsayers;  and  concluded  by  bringing 
out  with  full  force  the  word  '•  baptism.'^  I  never 
read  the  passage,  and  never  shall,  without  the  re- 
currence of  that  scene,  and  the  recollection  of 
5 


50  CONrESSIONS   OF   A  CONVERT. 

Mr.  K.'s  long-drawn  litterance  of  ''one bap- 
tism." 

Having  up  to  tliis  period  of  my  life  attaclied 
but  one  meaning  to  the  word  "baptism/'  in 
nearly  all  the  passages  of  Scripture  which  contain 
it,  it  did  not  then  occur  to  me  that  in  this  place 
it  referred  to  a  unity  of  spirit,  not  of  form,  and 
that  the  entire  fabric  of  the  preacher's  argumen- 
tation rested  upon  a  misinterpretation  of  his  text. 
But  although  at  the  time,  partly  from  my  own 
inconsideration,  and  partly  from  the  caution  with 
which  the  preacher  avoided  all  allusion  to  a  di- 
versity of  sentiment  on  the  point,  I  yielded  my 
mind  to  his  assumption,  I  have  seen  since  then 
that  it  was  without  the  shadow  of  a  proof. 
Standing  as  these  words  do  in  the  very  centre 
of  a  paragraph  which  describes  the  essentials  of 
Christian  unity,  and  surrounded  by  numerous 
references,  all  of  which  are  purely  spiritual,  it 
would  be  exceedingly  strange  if  they  designated 
nothing  beyond  a  rite ;  and  still  more  so,  if  they 
are  to  be  limited,  as  the  preacher's  reasoning 
assumed,  to  the  mere  mode  in  which  such  a  rite 
should  be  administered.  Repeatedly  in  his  ser- 
mon did  he  take  the  liberty  of  reciting  the  pas- 
sage as  if  it  had  been  written  "  one  immersion ;" 
which,  though  not  without  precedent  in  his  own 


REMINISCENCES   AND   REFLECTIONS.  51 

denomination,  "was  a  most  disingenuous  and  uu- 
"warrantablo  artifice,  in  a  discourse  designed  pro- 
fessedly to  prove  the  very  point  wbich  was  thus 
taken  for  granted.  I  am  not  sure,  however, 
whether  the  preacher  by  so  doing  did  not  un- 
wittingly expose  the  inconsistency  of  his  own 
version.  At  least  I  believe  that  this  icoidd 
have  been  its  effect,  had  he  not  confined  the 
quotation  to  the  single  clause  thus  torn  from  its 
context,  and  had  honestly  read  the  entire  pas- 
sage thus, — "  There  is  one  body,  and  one  Spirit, 
even  as  ye  are  called  in  one  hope  of  your 
calling.  One  Lord,  one  faith,  one  dipping.  One 
God  and  Father  of  all,  who  is  above  all,  and 
through  all,  and  in  you  all."  A  more  incon- 
gruous juxtaposition  it  is  scarcely  possible  to 
conceive.  Neither  logic  nor  learning  can  be 
necessary  to  make  this  apparent.  ^'The  plain 
reader'^  (so  often  appealed  to  and  imposed  upon 
by  Baptists)  may  in  such  a  case  be  confidently 
constituted  a  judge.  Piety,  no  less  than  rea- 
son, revolts  from  a  rendering  of  a  passage  by 
which  the  unity  of  its  parts  is  so  strangely 
violated,  and  an  importance  attached  to  the 
mode  of  administering  an  outward  ordinance, 
which  agrees  no  better  with  its  design  than  it 
does   with   the   essential   verities   named   in  the 


52  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

same  sentence,  and  with  the  spiritual  dispensa- 
tion whose  vital  truths  are  set  forth  therein.  On 
the  other  hand,  no  conjunction  of  parts  could 
have  been  more  harmonious  or  beautiful,  if  the 
^^  one  baptism'^  spoken  of  be  not  an  outward  ser- 
vice, but  an  inward  sanctification, — that  baptism 
of  the  Spirit  which  '^  saves  us,'^  and  which  the 
apostle  Peter  affirms  to  be  ^-not  the  putting 
away  of  the  filth  of  the  flesh,^'  a  mere  ceremonial 
cleansing,  "  but  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience 
towards  Grod." 

Before  proceeding  with  my  narrative,  I  may  be 
permitted  to  make  the  remark,  that  neither  on 
this  nor  on  any  other  public  occasion  do  I  remem- 
ber to  have  heard  the  words  '^  dip,^'  and  "  dip- 
ping," and  ^'dippers"  applied  to  Baptists  and 
their  mode  of  baptizing.  They  affirm,  and  that 
most  truly,  that  the  Scripture  terms  are  not  trans- 
lated from  the  Greek,  but  simply  transferred  ;  and 
to  such  a  mere  transference  they  are  so  strongly 
opposed,  that  solely  because  the  Committee  of  the 
Bible  Society  will  not  appropriate  the  sacred 
money  entrusted  to  their  hands  for  the  printing 
of  versions  of  the  Scriptures,  in  which  the  ori- 
ginal is  so  rendered  as  to  sanction  their  mode  of 
baptizing,  they  have  formed  for  this  purpose  a 
separate  institution.      But  why  do  they  not  con- 


REMINISCENCES  AND  REFLECTIONS.    53 

stantlj  abide  by  this  principle,  and  consistently 
substitute  for  ''baptize"  and  "Baptist'^  the  words 
''  dip"  and  "  dipper  ?"  Why  do  they  not  preach, 
and  write,  and  change  the  phraseology  of  the 
English  Bible,  in  accordance  with  the  reasons  of 
their  withdrawment  from  the  Bible  Society  ?  Why 
should  the  transferred  expressions  be  excluded 
from  the  language  of  the  Hindu,  and  retained  in 
that  of  the  Briton?  Why  should  they  shrink 
from  the  honest  course  of  renouncing  all  ambi- 
guous terms  ?  Were  they  thus  to  act,  they  would 
never  more  speak  of  "  hajjtisnis/'  but  of  ''  dip- 
pings ;"  nor  would  they  call  themselves  Baptists, 
but  Dippers.  No  longer  should  we  hear  of  Baptist 
Chapels,  Baptist  Unions,  Baptist  Anniversaries, 
Baptist  Publications,  Baptist  Magazines,  Baptist 
Children's  Magazines,  and  Baptist  Missions ;  but, 
in  their  stead,  we  should  have  the  true  English 
and/ar  nwre  accurate  phrases  of  Dipping  Chapels, 
Dipping  Unions,  Dipping  Anniversaries,  Dipping 
Publications,  Dipping  Magazines,  Dipping  Child- 
ren's Magazines,  and  Dipping  Missions. 

And  why  should  they  not  thus  correct  their 
customary  phraseology  ?  If,  as  Dr.  Carson  oracu- 
larly affirms,  and  as  many  have  maintained  before 
him,  the  original  word  haptizo  means  to  dip,  and 
nothing  else,  what  objection  can  those  who  adopt 
5* 


54  CONFESSIONS   OP   A   CONVERT. 

this  opinion  fairly  urge  against  the  change  ?  / 
know  of  none  except  this — that  it  would  demon- 
strate the  folly  of  their  positive  assertions,  and 
expose  themselves  to  the  loud  laugh  of  impartial 
men.  And  of  this  their  avoidance  of  the  only 
words  which  accurately  describe  their  practice  is  a 
sufficient  evidence.  They  know  well  that  an 
^'  improved  version"  of  the  New  Testament  could 
not  be  made  ri'gidly  on  their  principles,  without 
rendering  many  portions  of  it  unintelligible  or 
absurd. 

But  it  may  be  said  that  if  the  words  "  dip'' 
and  ^^  dipping"  be  generally  eschewed,  Baptist 
preachers  and  writers  frequently  employ  the  terms 
'^immerse"  and  ^^ immersion,"  and  that  this  is 
all  the  same  thing.  I  am  aware  that  such  a  prac- 
tice is  common ;  and  I  know,  moreover,  that  these 
expressions  are  often  so  introduced  as  to  lead  the 
unthinking  to  conclude  that  they  answer  both  to 
the  original  of  the  New  Testament  and  to  the 
mode  adopted  by  the  Baptists  !  I  do  not  assert, 
indeed,  for  I  do  not  believe,  that  this  is  done  with 
a  design  to  mislead ;  but  that  such  is  the  effect  of 
using  the  word  ^^  immersion,"  I  am  quite  sure. 
Is  it  right,  therefore,  to  inquire  whether  its  signi- 
fication is  *■'  all  the  same"  as  that  of  dipping  ? 
Every  one  knows  that  to  ''  dip"  is  to  plunge  any- 


REMINISCENCES   AND   REFLECTIONS.  55 

thing  under  water,  and  almost  immediately  after- 
wards to  take  it  out  again, — that  it  includes  a 
double  action,  and  therefore  describes  most  accur- 
ately the  mode  chosen  by  Baptists.  But  it  is 
otherwise  with  the  verb  "  to  immerse."  This 
term  is  compounded  of  two  Latin  words,  which 
severally  mean  "  in''  and  "  plunge  ;"  the  former 
being  prefixed  to  the  latter  to  strengthen  the  idea 
which  it  conveys.  And,  according  to  Dr.  Johnson, 
it  simply  means  "  to  put  under  the-  water ;  to 
cover  deep."  Unlike  "  dip,"  it  does  not  include 
nor  imply  the  additional  act  of  drawing  out  of  the 
water  that  which  has  just  before  been  put  under 
it ;  but  its  signification  is  restricted  to  the  single 
operation  of  covering,  or  "  sinking  deep."  It 
would  be  applicable  to  the  mode  which  the  Bap- 
tists adopt,  if  they  simply  put  their  proselytes 
heneatli  the  water,  and  left  them  there ;  if  they 
merely  "  buried  them  in  baptism,"  but  then  aban- 
doned them  ^^  to  rise  again"  as  best  they  could. 
The  word,  therefore,  is  inaccurately  applied  to 
their  performance  :  it  only  describes  half  of  it ; 
and  it  usurps  the  place  of  a  plainer  term,  which 
includes  the  whole,  and  which  is,  of  all  expres- 
sions, the  most  suitable  and  exact  which  the  Eng- 
lish tongue  supplies.  This  word  "  immersion," 
moreover,  is  as  much  transferred  from  the  Latin 


56  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

as  ''  baptism"  is  from  the  Greek ;  but  it  is  recom- 
mended by  a  sort  of  cloudiness — a  convenient  am- 
biguity, wbicb  mystifies  the  uneducated  mind,  and 
hides  the  absurdity  of  translations  and  actions, 
which  would  be  instantly  seen  were  the  plain  word 
''  dipping''  put  in  its  place. 

But  I  must  return  to  the  sermon.  After  a 
short  introduction,  in  which  the  preacher  desig- 
nated his  own  denomination  "  the  despised  Bap- 
tists/^ and  expressed  his  perfect  willingness  to 
bear  the  rej^roach  of  men,  in  humble  words  in- 
deed, but  with  ill-disguised  bitterness  of  spirit 
and  contempt  of  those  who  thus  regarded  them, 
he  proposed, — I.  To  offer  some  observations  on 
the  positive  institutions  of  the  gospel;  II.  To 
establish  the  claim  of  believers'  immersion  to  that 
character;  and,  III.  To  meet  the  objections  of 
those  who  shrunk  from  its  observance.  Having, 
under  the  first  division  of  his  discourse,  pointed 
out  the  distinction  between  moral  laws  and  posi- 
tive institutions,  and  made  some  general  remarks 
upon  the  importance  of  the  latter,  Mr.  B.  pro- 
ceeded to  prove  their  permanent  obligation,  and 
the  consequent  duty  of  every  believer  to  observe 
them.  In  all  this  there  was  nothing  to  which  I 
could  object,  and  little  which  any  Christians  (with 
the  exception  of  the  Quakers)  would  have  ques- 


REMINISCENCES  AND   REFLECTIONS.  57 

tioned.  But  yet  the  antagonistic  manner  and  ar- 
gumentative tone  of  the  preacher  were  peculiarly 
fitted  to  make  a  different  impression,  and  to  lead 
the  ignorant  to  suppose  that  other  denominations 
held  and  acted  upon  very  different  principles. 
This,  indeed,  he  did  not  assert,  and,  I  believe,  did 
not  design  ;  but  had  he  done  both,  he  would  not, 
I  am  persuaded,  have  succeeded  much  better  in 
convincing  his  hearers  that  on  these  points,  "  they 
were  the  people,  and  that  wisdom  would  die  with 
them.''  Throughout,  he  delivered  his  sentiments 
as  one  having  authority  to  speak  on  these  subjects, 
and  more  than  once  he  referred  to  the  Immer- 
sionists,  in  a  style  singularly  suited  to  convey  the 
idea  that  tRey,  if  not  the  very  pillar  and  ground 
of  the  truth,  were  certainly  "  set,"  in  a  very  pe- 
culiar and  public  manner,  "  for  the  defence  and 
confirmation  of  the  gospel." 

When  the  preacher  announced  the  second  head 
of  his  sermon,  the  manner  in  which  he  drew  up 
his  stately  person,  and  compressed  his  eye-brows 
and  lips,  made  it  evident  to  me  that  he  thought 
himself  well  prepared  to  advance  something  very 
convincing,  and  that  he  wished  his  audience  to 
understand  that  he  was  about  to  scatter  all  his 
adversaries,  and  conduct  his  argument  to  a  trium- 
phant conclusion.     And  this  feeling  was  evidently 


58  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

contagious.  Upon  the  announcement  being  made 
by  Mr.  R.  that  he  would  prove  believers'  immer- 
sion to  be  a  positive  institution  of  the  gospel, 
there  was  a  simultaneous  and  sympathetic  stir 
throughout  the  chapel,  and  a  confused  noise  cre- 
ated by  various  efforts  to  prepare  for  what  was 
coming — some  comfortably  adjusting  their  persons 
on  the  seats;  others  shuffling  the  stools  and  has- 
socks, to  secure  an  easy  posture  for  their  extremi- 
ties; and  not  a  few  coughing  when  they  did  not 
need  it,  to  prevent  the  interruption  and  save  the 
trouble  when  they  did.  But  the  moment  the 
preacher  opened  his  lips,  the  sound  of  his  voice 
stilled  the  temporary  tumult,  and  hushed  the  au- 
dience into  breathless  silence.  Nor'was  I  the 
least  attentive  of  his  hearers.  Not,  indeed,  that  I 
expected  any  thing  properly  original ;  for  I  had  so 
frequently  heard  and  read  what  is  usually  ad- 
vanced in  favour  of  immersion,  as  to  be  perfectly 
familiar  with,  and  heartily  weary  of,  the  flimsy 
fallacies,  the  spider's  web,  by  which  the  unin- 
structed  and  undiscerning  are  entangled  and  se- 
cured. Yet  I  did  anticipate,  from  the  reputation 
of  the  preacher  as  a  polemic,  and  the  confident 
tone  in  which  he  announced  his  design,  that  old 
reasonings  on  the  subject  would  be  reproduced 
with  new  force,  or  in  new  forms.     But  in  this  I 


REMINISCENCES  AND  REFLECTIONS.  59 

was  doomed  to  disappointment.  Nothing  could 
have  been  more  trite  than  the  bold  assertions,  and 
nothing  more  customary  than  the  convenient  omis- 
sions, of  his  discourse. 

He  commenced  by  saying  that  the  proposition 
he  was  about  to  prove  would  be  considered  under 
two  heads:  in  the  first  place,  he  would  show  that 
none  but  believers  were  the  proper  subjects  of  bap- 
tism j  and,  secondly,  that  all  who  sustained  such  a 
character  should  be  immersed. 

The  remarks  in  support  of  the  first  point  were 
brief  and  declamatory.  They  consisted  mainly  in 
strong  denunciations  of  infant  sprinkling,  and  in 
fervid,  if  they  were  not  feigned,  exclamations  of 
astonishment  that  any  Christian  could  differ  on 
this  subject  from  himself  As  my  attention, 
hitherto,  had  been  almost  exclusively  restricted 
to  the  mode  of  baptism,  and  the  question.  Who 
are  its  proper  subjects  ?  had  but  very  casually 
occupied  my  thoughts,  I  was  not  then  prepared 
to  controvert  the  preacher's  conclusion,  although 
there  was  nothing  advanced  by  him  which  ap- 
peared to  me  to  have  much  weight,  and  some 
statements  I  could  have  easily  disproved.  In 
truth,  there  was  only  one  topic  upon  which  he 
dilated  at  any  length, — the  incapacity  of  infants 
to  understand  the  ordinance,  and  the  absurdity  of 


60  CONFESSIONS   OE   A   CONVERT. 

administering  it  to  them.  But  upon  this  point 
he  declaimed  with  much  strength  of  voice  and 
energy  of  manner.  Again  and  again  he  affirmed 
that  no  single  child  had  ever  been  the  better  for 
baptism,  challenged  all  the  Paedo-baptists  in  the 
world  to  deny  his  assertion,  and,  with  most  con- 
temptuous tones,  denounced  the  practice  and  its 
abettors.  All  this  jarred  harshly  upon  my  feel- 
ings ;  and  instead  of  producing  conviction,  it  only 
excited  disgust.  It  was  an  appeal,  not  to  reason, 
but  to  passion ;  and  its  tendency  was  not  to  re- 
move the  doubts  of  the  ingenuous  inquirer,  but  to 
confirm  the  prejudices  of  the  narrow-minded  par- 
tisan. And  I  thought  I  could  discern,  during 
the  delivery  of  some  of  his  strongest  denuncia- 
tionS;  decisive  evidence  of  this  in  the  demeanour  of 
several  around  me.  Some  of  those  who  had  risen 
from  their  seats  stood  gazing  intently  upon  the 
preacher,  and  might  be  seen,  at  the  conclusion  of 
each  ejaculation  and  appeal,  giving  their  heads 
an  emphatic  jerk  of  approbation.  Over  the  fea- 
tures of  others  there  played  a  grim  smile  of  satis- 
faction, which  in  a  few  cases  became  ghastly, 
from  the  unnatural  contrast  which  an  effi3rt  to 
seem  pleased  presented  with  their  crimped-up 
cheeks,  corrugated  upper  lip,  and  cadaverous 
countenance :  whilst  there  were  a  few  from  whose 


REMINISCENCES  AND  REFLECTIONS.    61 

eyes  there  flashed  the  gleams  of  an  unhallowed 
fire,  which  the  preacher's  words  had  kindled  in 
their  hearts. 

These  various  signs  of  emotion  strongly  at- 
tracted my  attention ;  and  as  I  then  took  a  con- 
siderable interest  in  the  congregation,  and  was 
zealous  for  their  reputation,  I  rejoiced  to  think 
that  but  few  of  our  Independent  friends  were  pre- 
sent to  hear  and  see  such  a  display  of  uncharita- 
bleness. 

Much,  however,  as  these  objects  occupied  my 
thoughts,  I  was  not  so  engrossed  as  to  allow  what 
might  be  termed  the  argument  of  this  part  of  the 
discourse  to  pass  unnoticed.  Although  I  had  had 
few  opportunities  of  observing  the  influence  of 
infant  baptism,  I  had  both  heard  and  read 
enough  to  convince  me  that  the  preacher's  dog- 
matic denunciations  of  its  inutility  would  be 
firmly  denied  by  his  brethren,  and  that  his  de- 
mand of  proof  would  be  readily  responded  to.  I 
perceived,  moreover,  that  such  an  objection  in- 
volved a  gross  fallacy;  for  it  assumed  that  no 
advantage  whatever  could  accrue  from  the  ordi- 
nance, unless  at  the  time  of  its  administration 
the  infant  understood  its  design  :  whereas  it  must 
be  obvious  at  a  glance,  that  if  the  jparents  rightly 
discern  the  truth  taught  in  relation  to  their  child, 
6 


62  CONFESSIONS   OF  A  CONVERT. 

and  feel  the  obligations  which  they  solemnly 
acknowledge  when  they  thus  dedicate  it  to  the 
Lord,  the  subsequent  influence,  both  upon  them- 
selves and  upon  their  youthful  charge,  must  be  in 
the  highest  degree  important. 

This,  however,  was  only  a  passing  idea ;  but  in 
subsequent  reflections  upon  this  sermon,  I  was 
strongly  impressed  with  the  conviction  that  the 
preacher's  statements  not  only  involved  an  empty 
fallacy,  but  a  heavy  imputation  upon  the  God  of 
Abraham  and  the  Saviour  of  mankind.  I  saw 
that  the  condemnation  pronounced  upon  the  bap- 
tism of  infants,  solely  because  they  could  not  com- 
prehend its  design,  would,  if  it  were  just,  equally 
apply  to  the  circumcision  of  infants  by  the  father 
of  the  faithful,  and  the  hlessing  of  infants  by 
Jesus  Christ.  More  than  once  during  his  sermon 
Mr.  R.  exclaimed,  ^'  How  absurd  to  sprinkle  an 
unconscious  babe  \"  And  since  then  I  have  asked 
myself  why,  for  the  selfsame  reason,  it  might  not 
also  be  said,  "  How  absurd  to  circumcise  an  un- 
conscious babe  !"  "  How  absurd  to  hiess  it  V 
Surely  the  Jewish  children  of  eight  days  old,  and 
the  infants  enfolded  in  the  arms  of  Jesus,  were  as 
"  unconscious"  of  the  design  of  the  service  per- 
formed upon  them  as  are  those  who  are  now  bap- 
tized.    But  were  such  services  '^  absurd  ?"    They 


REMINISCENCES  AND  REFLECTIONS.    63 

must  have  been  so  upon  Mr.  R.'s  rule  of  judg- 
ment. Such  a  fearful  condemnation  of  an  ordi- 
nance and  an  act,  which  all  acknowledge  to  have 
been  "  divinely  wise/'  was  unquestionably  in- 
volved in  his  reasoning ;  and  I  should  have  been 
the  more  impressed  with  the  manifest  inconsis- 
tency between  this  mode  of  deciding  a  contro- 
versy, and  the  loud  professions  of  reverence  for 
Scripture  with  which  Mr.  R.'s  sermon  abounded, 
had  I  not  been  shocked  by  its  still  grosser  im- 
piety. 

But  although  the  preacher's  declamation  against 
infant  baptism  was  brief,  the  young  women  who 
composed  the  bulk  of  his  audience  deemed  it,  I 
doubt  not,  quite  decisive  of  the  question,  or,  to 
quote  the  words  of  one  of  them,  "particularly 
good."  Mr.  K.'s  main  purpose,  however,  was 
evidently  to  meet  local  circumstances,  by  proving 
that  immersion  alone  is  Christian  baptism.  To 
this,  therefore,  he  devoted  a  considerable  portion 
of  his  discourse.  And  whatever  else  might  be 
defective  in  the  maintenance  of  his  point,  there 
was  no  lack  of  zeal.  Rarely  has  so  cold  a  subject 
generated  so  much  heat.  The  tongue,  the  fist, 
and  the  foot  each  performed  its  part.  With  sten- 
torian voice  and  emphatic  stamp,  and  heavy  blows 
upon   the   Bible,    if  not  "with   start   and  stare 


64  CONFESSIONS  OF   A   CONVERT. 

theatric,"  he  strove  to  make  his  words  impressive. 
His  entire  manner  reminded  me  of  the  practice  of 
those  savage  tribes,  who,  when  engaged  in  battle, 
endeavour,  by  violent  gesticulations  and  horrid 
clamour,  to  paralyse  or  scatter  the  foes  whom 
they  cannot  otherwise  subdue.  And,  undoubtedly, 
if  strong  positions  in  reasoning,  like  fortified 
places,  could  be  won  by  assault,  or  carried  by 
storm,  the  preacher's  victory  would  have  been 
most  complete. 

The  substance  of  Mr.  K.'s  reasoning  on  immer- 
sion will  appear  in  the  next  part.  I  shall,  there- 
fore, only  add  here,  that  as  he  advanced  no  argu- 
ment which  I  had  not  previously  weighed,  my 
views  at  the  conclusion  of  his  discourse  continued 
much  the  same  as  they  were  at  its  commencement. 
But  not  so  my  feelings.  These  had  been  most 
painfully  excited  by  what  was  advanced  under  the 
third  head  of  the  sermon,  where  the  preacher  pro- 
posed to  remove  the  difficulties  and  reply  to  the 
objections  of  those  who  did  not  submit  to  immer- 
sion. Here  I  naturally  expected  something,  at 
least,  like  a  statement  of  the  reasonings  which  re- 
strained the  great  majority  .of  Christians  from 
"practising  this  mode  of  baptism.  But  I  was  once 
more  subjected  to  disappointment.  Moral  diffi- 
culties, not  mental,  were  the  only  ones  which  the 


REMINISCENCES  AND  REFLECTIONS.  65 

preacher  deemed  it  just  or  wise  to  dispose  of,  or 
even  to  name.  No  person,  had  he  been  ignorant 
of  the  fact  that  there  were  in  the  world  Christians 
as  intelligent  and  upright  as  the  Baptists,  who, 
after  most  careful  consideration,  conscientiously 
diflfered  from  them,  could  have  learned,  or  would 
have  imagined  it,  from  Mr.  R.'s  remarks.  On  the 
contrary,  their  tendency  was  to  make  this  single 
impression,  that  whilst  in  theory  others  agreed 
with  himself,  in  practice  they  conferred  with  flesh 
and  blood.  One  class  was  described  as  shrinking 
from  an  admitted  obligation,  because  it  was  a  pain- 
ful cross;  another,  because  they  were  too  weak  in 
faith  to  believe  that  God  would  preserve  them  in 
the  observance  of  his  own  ordinance.  Some  were 
represented  as  standing  aloof,  on  the  ground  that 
immersion  was  not  essential  to  salvation;  and  not 
a  few  because  they  were  too  proud  to  join  so  small 
and  despised  a  community  as  the  Baptists.  Many 
strong  things  were  said  upon  this  last  point,  and 
in  such  a  tone  as  to  satisfy  me  that  the  preacher 
had  really  much  more  exalted  notions  of  his  sect 
than  he  professed  to  have;  but  I  cannot  be  sure 
that  I  correctly  report  this  part  of  his  sermon,  for 
during  its  delivery  my  thoughts  were  diverted,  and 
my  seriousness  disturbed,  by  an  occurrence  of  the 
previous  week,  which  it  recalled  to  my  mind. 
6* 


66  CONFESSIONS   OF   A  CONVERT. 

Meeting  one  of  our  old  church  members — ^a  weai 
but  worthy  individual — he  thus  accosted  me  : — 
^'  Well,  young  man,  I  am  sorry  to  hear  that  you 
shrink  from  the  water j  but  ah!  I  remember  doing 
the  same  thing  myself  for  a  long  time,  and  I 
thought  that  there  was  nothing  at  all  in  the  Bible 
about  dipping ;  but  Til  tell  you  how  I  learned  the 
truth.  One  day,  when  I  was  walking  by  a  river, 
these  words  came  to  me,  just  as  if  any  person  was 
speaking  into  hiy  ear, — '  Fear  not,  little  flock,  for 
it  is  your  Father's  good  pleasure  to  give  you  the 
kingdom ;'  and  I  said  to  myself,  '  Now  this  little 
flock  must  be  the  Baptists  !'  for  in  our  town  there 
was  no  flock  so  small  as  they  were.  I  am  sure 
then  that  they  must  be  right,  and  I  won't  resist 
the  truth  any  longer.  So  I  went  to  the  Baptist 
minister,  and  asked  him  about  it ;  and  he  said  it 
was  quite  correct,  and  that  I  ought  to  go  under  the 
water." 

The  conclusion  of  the  sermon  contained  an  ear- 
nest appeal  to  waverers,  and  sundry  reasons  for 
laying  aside  every  objection,  and  submitting  to 
''the  Lord's  appointment;"  and  immediately  after- 
wards seven  persons  were  immersed — ^six  young 
females  and  one  man.  Most  of  these  I  knew,  and 
I  had  a  favourable  impression  of  their  sincerity. 
Of  one  thing,  indeed,  I  was  sure — that  prior  to 


REMINISCENCES  AND  REFLECTIONS.  67 

their  baptisnij  they  had  been  subjected  by  our 
minister  to  several  examinations  as  to  their  religi- 
ous opinions  and  history ;  that  they  had  also  been 
conversed  with  by  two  of  the  deacons ;  and,  after 
all,  they  had  been  compelled  to  pass  through  the 
fiery  ordeal  of  appearing  personally  before  the 
church,  and  ''  giving  in  their  experience,"  as  it  is 
termed — that  is,  standing  up  in  the  face  of  the 
people,  and  telling  them  what  they  had  thought 
and  felt  on  the  subject  of  their  soul's  salvation. 

Of  the  service  itself  I  shall  say  but  little.  To 
some  such  an  exhibition  may  seem  decent,  wise, 
significant,  and  even  solemn ;  but  with  such  im- 
pressions I  have  no  sympathy.  While  I  looked 
at  the  young  women,  standing  on  the  margin  of 
the  pool,  decked  out  in  decorated  caps,  and  white 
vestments,  far  more  tastily  arranged  than  simple 
convenience  required,  and  marked  the  manner  in 
which  they  were  severally  plunged  by  the  minis- 
ter, and  then,  as  my  eye  followed  each  of  them, 
drenched  and  dripping  (a  spectacle  anything  but 
impressive),  from  the  baptistery  to  the  vestry, 
where  I  knew  that  the  very  necessary,  but  very 
unapostolical  luxuries  of  brandy,  fire,  and  changes 
of  raiment  awaited  them,  I  said  to  myself,  "  Can 
this  be  Christianity  V 

On  leaving   the  chapel,   instead  of  returning 


68  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

home,  as  I  had  been  wont  to  do  immediately  after 
eacli  service,  I  yielded  to  an  irrepressible  desire  to 
seek  shelter  in  some  shady  retreat,  where,  unob- 
served, I  might  review  the  scene  I  had  just  wit- 
nessed, and  indulge  the  thoughts  which  confusedly 
crowded  into  my  mind.     Constrained  by  this  feel- 
ing, and  too  much  engrossed  with  my  own  reflec- 
tions to  regard  appearances,  or  care  about  the  spe- 
culations and  surmises  which  so  unusual  a  course 
would  call  forth,   I  bent  my  steps   towards  the 
nearest  egress  from  the  town,  and  sauntered  into  a 
narrow  and  lovely  lane,  which  terminated  in  an 
open  glade,   whither  from  my  childhood  I  had 
loved  to  wander  in  search  of  the  wood-flowers, 
which  flourished  there  in  great  variety.     It  was 
about  the  middle  of  IMay  :   the  noon  was  clear  and 
bright,  and  the  air  fresh  but  balmy.     I  seated 
myself  upon  the  trunk  of  a  noble  oak,  which  had 
just  been  felled  -,  and,  although  the  scenery  around 
me  was  simple  and  familiar,  never  before  did  I 
survey  it  with  such  pure  enjoyment,  or  drink  in 
with  so  keen  a  satisfaction  the  sweet  influences  of 
nature  with  which  my  senses  and  my  spirit  were 
regaled.     Just  escaped  from  the  close  and  noxious 
atmosphere  of  a  confined  sectarianism,  into  an  im- 
mediate contact  with  which  my  thoughts  had  been 
so  painfully  forced  during  the  previous  morning, 


REMINISCENCES   AND   REFLECTIONS.  69 

I  experienced  an  elation  and  elasticity  of  soul  not 
to  be  described,  and  rejoiced  with  more  than  or- 
dinary exultation  in  the  liberty  wherewith  Christ 
had  made  me  free.  I  felt  that  in  that  place  I 
could  have  fellowship  with  God.  Here,  around, 
above,  beneath,  I  read  his  character,  and  could 
realize  his  presence.  The  pure,  deep  gether,  the 
soft  yet  bracing  air,  the  cloudless  sun  and  cheer- 
ing light,  the  fresh  fragrance  of  the  hedge-rows, 
the  sweet  sound  of  blithe  birds  and  murmuring 
breezes  amonst  the  branches ;  indeed,  the  entire 
scene  which  surrounded  me  suggested  no  senti- 
ments but  such  as  were  hallowed  and  elevated,  nor 
would  it  blend  with  any  others.  This  conviction 
was  forced  upon  me.  Repeatedly  did  I  recur  to 
the  service  of  the  morning,  and  endeavour  to  fix 
my  roving  and  reluctant  thoughts  upon  some  part 
of  the  discourse  which  I  had  been  hearing ;  but  the 
effort  proved  vain.  My  mind  was  predisposed  by 
the  objects  before  me  only  for  much  higher  exer- 
cises ;  and  I  felt  that  to  turn  from  them  to  the 
dissection  of  sophistries,  and  the  discussion  of 
topics  so  insignificant  as  those  which  had  exer- 
cised the  utmost  vigour  of  the  preacher's  mind, 
and  the  full  compass  of  his  voice,  would  be  to 
descend  from  heaven  to  earth,  and  almost  to  dese- 
crate the  glorious  temple  of  the  Creator,  which 
his  own  hand  had  reared  around  me. 


70  CONFESSIONS   OF  A  CONVERT. 

This  impression  was  deepened  when  I  took  out 
my  pocket-bible,  and  read  in  succession  the  40th 
chapter  of  Isaiah,  the  17th  chapter  of  John's  gos- 
pel, and  the  liith  and  following  chapters  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Eomans.  Here  I  felt  that  I  had 
communion  with  the  God  who  had  stretched  out 
the  heavens  and  formed  the  earth.  The  noble, 
generous,  sublime  sentiments  of  the  sacred  page 
bore  the  impress  of  the  same  mind,  and  presented 
many  of  the  same  features  as  the  natural  scenery 
of  the  spot  in  which  I  sat.  Their  separate  in- 
fluences also  perfectly  harmonized.  As  the  light 
and  the  air  blended  with  each  other,  so  did  the 
teachings  of  the  two  books  which  I  was  then  pe- 
rusing. But  neither  of  them  agreed  with  the 
theme  to  which  my  thoughts  had  been  directed. 
Here  was  nothing  narrow — nothing  little.  The 
sentiments  were  sublime;  the  range  of  vision 
ample ;  the  spirit  generous  and  divine.  Between 
the  erect  form  and  noble  aspect  of  religion  as  here 
presented,  and  that  cramped,  and  crippled,  and 
creeping  thing,  the  unnatural  and  ungainly  mo- 
tions of  which  I  had  that  morning  watched  with 
shame  and  sorrow,  I  saw  and  felt  that  the  differ- 
ence was  immeasurable.  Most  deeply  did  I  then 
realize  the  truth,  that  as  ^^  high  as  the  heavens 
are   above  the   earth,   so   high  are  God's  ways 


REMINISCENCES   AND   REFLECTIONS.  71 

above   our  ways,   and  his   thoughts    above   our 
thoughts.'* 

While  I  was  musing  thus,  my  attention  was  at- 
tracted towards  a  singular  and  stunted  tree,  which 
stood  near  the  spot  on  which  I  was  sitting.  Its 
trunk  was  knotted  and  gnarled.  Its  branches 
were  curiously  twisted,  and  but  scantily  clothed 
with  foliage;  and  in  its  general  appearance  it 
presented  a  very  striking  contrast  to  several  noble 
elms  and  oaks  which  flourished  around  it.  Cu- 
rious to  ascertain  the  cause  of  this  difference,  I 
left  my  seat,  and  proceeded  to  the  spot  where  this 
deformed  tree  was  growing,  when  the  explanation 
immediately  presented  itself.  On  the  one  side, 
near  a  hedge,  within  a  few  feet  of  which  it  stood, 
a  deep  ditch  had  been  dug,  which,  some  years  be- 
fore, had  severed  some  of  its  main  roots,  and  cut 
off  a  large  portion  of  its  supplies ;  whilst  on  the 
other  side  there  was  a  footpath,  which  had  been 
much  used  when  the  tree  was  young,  and  had  ma- 
terially impaired  its  vigour.  Here,  thought  I,  do 
I  see  a  true  emblem  of  the  system  from  which  I 
had  been  so  strongly  repelled.  Though,  like  this 
tree,  planted  in  a  large  place,  and  in  a  fruitful 
soil,  and  possessing  those  essential  truths,  and 
that  vital  spirit,  which  might  have  secured  its 
generous  growth,  its  range  has  been  restricted,  its 


72  CONFESSIONS    OF   A    CONVERT. 

roots  impaired  by  man.  The  deep  ditch,  of  an  ex- 
clusive creed,  and  the  constant  tramp  of  sectarian 
feet  along  its  narrow  pathway,  have  checked  its 
growth,  changed  its  form,  covered  what  might 
have  been  a  straight  and  sturdy  trunk  with  un- 
sightly excrescences,  and  left  upon  its  crooked 
boughs  but  a  sickly  and  scanty  foliage. 


PART   III. 

EEASONIXGS   AND   REPLIES. 

During  the  morning  of  the  day  after  the  ser- 
vice just  described;  I  had  occasion  to  be  much  in 
the  town,  and  was  not  a  little  amused  at  the  sig- 
nificant manner  in  which  two  or  three  attendants 
at  our  chapel,  whom  I  happened  to  meet,  eyed 
and  addressed  me.  But  my  most  formidable  ren- 
counter of  this  kind  occurred  on  my  return  home, 
where  I  found  Mrs.  B.,  our  minister's  wife,  with 
her  two  daughters.  They  had  evidently  called  for 
the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  impression  which 
had  been  made  by  Mr.  R.'s  sermon ;  and  just  as  I 
opened  the  parlour  door,  I  heard  my  mother,  whose 
voice  was  usually  mild  and  soft,  exclaim  with  con- 
siderable animation,  "  No !  Mrs.  B.,  I  am  quite 
sure  that  George  is  sincere  F'  Her  face  was  flushed 
as  I  entered  the  room,  and  all  the  ladies  appeared 
rather  confused ;  but,  although  I  divined  the  cause, 
I  did  my  best  to  put  them  at  their  ease.  After 
the  usual  preliminaries,  and  without  the  slightest 
7  (73) 


74  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

reference  to  the  subject,  the  worthy  visitor  sud- 
denly turned  towards  me,  and  said,  "  Well,  Mr. 
G-eorge,  and  what  did  you  think  of  the  sermon 
yesterday  morning  ?  Your  mind  is  settled  now^  I 
hope  !  Oh  !  dear,  was  it  not  convincing  ?  What 
a  wonderful  man  that  Mr.  R.  is !  Did  you  ever 
hear  such  arguments  ?"  Unwilling  to  debate 
these  points  with  the  lady,  of  whose  character  I 
entertained  a  much  higher  estimate  than  of  her 
judgment,  and  anxious  not  to  disturb  the  compla- 
cent satisfaction  which  the  preacher  had  afforded 
her,  I  endeavoured  to  evade  the  subject.  But  the 
attempt  was  vain.  Determined  to  satisfy  her  cu- 
riosity, and  attain  the  object  of  her  call,  she  con- 
tinued to  assail  me  with  interrogatives,  until,  in 
order  to  prevent  any  misconstruction  of  my  silence, 
I  was  compelled  to  confess  that  I  could  not  quite 
agree  with  the  estimate  she  had  formed  of  Mr.  R., 
or  his  oration.  No  sooner  had  the  words  passed 
my  lips,  than  both  mother  and  daughters  burst 
forth  into  a  simultaneous  and  confused  clash  of 
tongues;  and,  from  amidst  the  mass  of  broken 
ejaculations  which  they  heaped  upon  my  unfortu- 
nate head,  all  that  I  could  distinctly  hear,  and 
that  only  because  they  were  often  repeated,  were 
the  words, — ^^  Dear  !  I  am  surprised  T'     '■''  Well ! 


REASONINGS  AND  REPLIES.  75 

it  is  sad  I"     "  Ah  !   I  did  hope   better  things." 
''  What  will  my  poor  husband  say  V 

As  soon  as  the  ladies  had  a  little  relieved  them- 
selves in  this  way,  the  worthy  matron  turned  again 
to  me,  and  said,  '-  But,  3Ir.  George,  was  n't  the 
Eunuch  baptized?"     ^'Certainly,  ma'am,"  I  re- 
plied.    "  But  was  n't  he  immersed,  I  mean  ?"    "  I 
do  not  know  that  he  was."   "  Dear  me,  Mr.  George, 
why  does  n't  it  say  so  ?"     "  Not  that  I  am  aware 
of,  ma'am."     ^'Well,"  she  added,  with  uplifted 
eyes  and  hands,  "  I  am  surprised.     Why,  does  n't 
it  say  that  he  '  went  down  into  the  water,  and  came 
up  out  of  the  water  V  and  is  not  that  just  the  same 
as  if  it  was  said  that  he  was  immersed  V^     "  Not 
exactly  so,  Mrs.  B. ;  for  you  may  remember  it  is 
stated  that  both  Philip  and  the  Eunuch  went  down 
into  and  came  up  out  of  the  water, — and  you  do 
not,  I  presume,  believe  that  Philip  baptized  him- 
self as  well  as  the  Ethiopian  ?"     "  Why  no,  to  be 
sure.     Well,  I  declare,  I  never  thought  of  that, 
now."     And  then,  recovering  a  little  from  her 
surprise,  she  added,  "  But,  perhaps,  he  did  after 
all :  why  not  ?     It  might  have  been  so,  you  know ; 
and  as  it  says  that  they  both  went  down  into  the 
water,  it  was  so,  of  course."     "Well,  Mrs.  B.," 
I  observed,  "  you  are  the  most  consistent  Baptist 
I  ever  met  with,  and  you  are  even  wiser  than  your 


76  CONFESSIONS   OF  A  CONVERT. 

husband ;  for  though  I.  have  often  heard  him  lay 
much  stress  upon  the  same  words,  to  prove  that 
one  of  the  persons  to  whom  they  refer  was  im- 
mersed, he  will  not,  as  fairly  as  you  have  done, 
allow  that  this  was  also  the  case  with  the  other." 
^'  Thank  you  for  your  compliment,  Mr.  George," 
rejoined  the  worthy  wife;  ^' but  I  dare  say  my 
husband  is  right,  for  he  never  goes  farther  than 
the  Bible."  ^^  I  beg  your  pardon,"  I  added,  ^^  but 
I  am  pretty  sure  that  both  he  and  other  Baptists 
do  so,  whenever  they  use  these  words,  which  sim- 
ply mean  that  they  went  down  from  the  chariot 
to  some  water  by  the  wayside,  and  then  went  up 
again,  as  a  proof  that  either  of  them  was  im- 
mersed. You  know  that  yesterday  Mr.  E..  came 
down  from  the  pulpit,  and  stood  at  the  edge  of  the 
baptistery,  while  Mr.  B.  was  baptizing ;  but  was  he 
immersed  ?  Yet  he  went  down  to  the  water  just 
as  much  as  Philip  and  the  Eunuch.  Perhaps,"  I 
added,  '^  you  may  remember,  when  I  called  at  your 
house  last  week,  that  you  opened  the  door  your- 
self, and  apologized  to  me  for  doing  so,  by  saying 
that  your  servant  had  just  gone  down  to  the  brook 
at  the  bottom  of  your  garden  to  fetch  some  water. 
Now,  I  am  sure  that  you  did  not  intend  me  to  un- 
derstand from  your  words  that  Betsy  had  been  bap- 
tized."    ^'  Oh  !  Mr.  George,"  said  the  good  lady, 


REASONINGS  AND  REPLIES.  77 

"  now  you  are  joking."  "  Not  so,  ma'am,  I  assure 
you ;  I  merely  mention  these  cases  because  the  lan- 
guage applicable'  to  them  conveys  exactly  the  same 
idea,  and  no  other,  as  the  words  upon  which  Mr.  R. 
dwelt  so  long,  which  you  have  just  quoted  as  a 
clear  proof  of  immersion,  and  which  form  the 
most  efficacious  means  of  making  Baptist  con- 
verts." 

Just  at  this  point  of  the  conversation,  the 
eldest  daughter  interposed  the  remark,  that  the 
words  were  not  going  down  "  to"  and  coming  up 
^'  from,"  but  going  down  '^  into"  and  coming  up 
^^out  of"  the  water.  I  allowed  that  there  was 
some  apparent  force  in  her  remark,  but  requested 
that,  on  her  return  home,  she  would  ask  Mr.  R., 
who  was  still  at  her  father's  house,  to  read  from 
a  Greek  dictionary  the  various  significations  of  the 
original  terms,  to  the  translations  of  which  in 
this  passage  he  had  attached  so  much  importance ; 
and  also  to  point  out  some  of  the  texts,  of  which 
there  was  a  great  number,  where  the  same  words 
had  been  rendered  "  to"  and  '^  from."  I  assured 
her  that,  if  she  could  persuade  him  to  do  this,  she 
would  never  more  think  the  argument  which  he 
had  founded  upon  them  worth  a  straw,  and  would 
be  ashamed  of  those  who  supported  their  system 
by  reasoning  so  false,  and,  to  uninstructed  per- 
7* 


78  CONFESSIONS   OF   A  CONVERT. 

Bons,  so  delusive.  To  this  I  added,  that  even 
were  it  otherwise,  as  the  words  do  not  describe 
the  act  of  baptism,  but  merely*  what  took  place 
prior  to  its  administration,  they  furnished  no 
solution  of  the  problem  how  the  ordinance  was 
performed,  whether  by  plunging,  pouring,  or 
sprinkling. 

Having  been  drawn  thus  far  into  discussion,  I 
ventured  to  ask  the  ladies  whether  they  could 
suppose  that  this  African  nobleman  would  have 
gone  down,  as  he  is  represented  to  have  done, 
direct  from  his  chariot  to  be  dipped,  either  in  the 
travelling  dress  which  he  wore,  or  in  other  gar- 
ments put  on  for  the  occasion  ?  I  inquired,  fur- 
ther, whether  in  the  place  where  this  baptism  was 
administered,  and  which  was  "  desert,'^  it  would 
seem  at  all  probable  that  a  suitable  spot  for 
immersion  should  have  been  so  easily  found  ? 
And  I  appealed  to  the  young  ladies,  whether 
they  had  not  learned  enough  of  Eastern  deserts 
while  at  school  to  satisfy  them  that  the  thirsty 
traveller  through  such  a  region  is  about  as 
likely  to  meet  with  a  stream  of  gold,  as  a 
stream  of  water  there,  deep  enough  for  such  a 
purpose. 

Whether  the  mother  thought  that  I  was 
making  some  impression  upon  her  daughters  or 


REASONINGS   AND   REPLIES.  79 

not,  wlio  seemed  amazed  at  these  and  other 
arguments,  which  had  hitherto  been  carefully 
concealed  from  them,  I  do  not  know,  but  she 
soon  rose  to  depart;  and  as  she  retired,  she 
whispered  into  my  ear,  ''Do,  Mr.  George,  lay 
aside  your  carnal  reasonings,  and  take  up  the 
cross. ^^  I  thanked  her,  smiled,  and  said  good 
morning. 

In  the  course  of  that  week,  several  circum- 
stances came  to  my  knowledge  which  convinced 
me  that  Mr.  R.'s  sermon  had  given  the  highest 
satisfaction  to  the  Baptists;  and  I  also  heard 
that,  by  some  of  them,  my  steadfastness  was 
charitably  ascribed  to  pride,  obstinacy,  and  other 
similar  causes.  All  this  -I  should  have  disre- 
garded, had  I  not  ascertained  that  Mr.  B.  had 
not  only  allowed  these  unkind  surmises  to  be 
uttered  in  his  hearing  without  rebuke,  but  that 
he  had  helped  to  give  them  currency.  I  learned, 
moreover,  that  the  preacher,  also,  who  remained 
two  or  three  days  in  the  town,  had  with  very  bad 
taste,  to  say  nothing  stronger,  affirmed  that,  it 
after  such  clear  and  scriptural  proofs  of  immer- 
sion as  he  had  advanced,  I  still  clung  to  my 
previous  prejudices,  he  feared  that  I  must  be 
sinning   against   light,   and,  like  the  Pharisees, 


80  CONrESSIONS   OF   A  CONVERT. 

wilfully   rejecting   the   counsel   of    Grod  against 
myself. 

Affected,  and  somewhat  stung,  by  these  ungen- 
erous and  injurious  insinuations,  I  became  anxious 
in  some  way  to  shield  my  own  reputation,  and  to 
set  forth  the  reasons  which  had  convinced  me  that 
immersion  had  no  scriptural  support.  But  how 
to  effect  these  objects,  I  could  not  for  a  time  dis- 
cover ;  and  as  I  had  recently  abstained  from  in- 
tercourse with  the  Independents  in  our  town,  lest 
my  change  should  be  ascribed  to  their  efforts,  I 
was  shut  up  to  my  own  resources.  At  length, 
however,  I  resolved  to  address  a  letter  to  Mr.  R., 
stating  some  of  the  considerations  which  compelled 
me  to  reject  the  reasonings  which  he  and  others 
deemed  so  irresistible,  and  containing  a  remon- 
strance against  some  of  the  unworthy  methods  by 
which,  in  his  discourse,  he  attempted  to  bias  and 
prejudice  his  hearers.  I  determined,  moreover, 
to  circulate  two  or  three  copies  of  this  letter 
amongst  the  congregation,  with  the  hope  that  it 
might  both  vindicate  my  character  and  serve  the 
cause  of  truth.  This  was  rather  a  bold  step,  and 
I  felt  it  to  be  so ;  but  my  motives  had  been  so  un- 
kindly misconstrued,  and  honour  and  fairness  had 
been  so  set  at  naught,  that  I  was  impelled  to  do 


REASONINGS   AND   REPLIES.  81 

what,  under  other  cii'cumstances,  I  should  have 
shrunk  from. 

Having  devoted  the  spare  hours  of  several  days 
to  the  task,  I  produced  the  following  epistle  : — 

"  ,S' ,  June,  18—. 

"  Rev.  and  dear  Sir, — From  my  childhood 
I  have  regarded  your  office  with  reverence,  and  I 
trust  that  nothing  I  am  about  to  write  will  appear 
to  indicate  a  different  state  of  feelino;. 

^^  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  you  are  not  un- 
acquainted with  the  fact,  that  my  views  have  re- 
cently undergone  a  change  on  the  subject  of  bap- 
tism ;  and,  if  I  am  not  misinformed,  when  you 
consented  to  preach  at  this  place  a  short  time  since, 
you  did  so  at  the  urgent  solicitation  of  Mr.  B., 
and  partly  with  the  design  of  counteracting  the 
consequences  which  he  apprehended  might  arise 
from  my  altered  sentiments.  I  am  also  aware  that 
some  strong  things  have  been  said  to  my  prejudice 
since  the  delivery  of  your  sermon,  to  account  for 
what  is  deemed,  by  a  few,  my  obstinate  adherence 
to  error,  and,  unless  I  am  strangely  misled,  by 
yourself  as  well  as  by  others.  Now,  as  I  believe 
that,  in  this  matter,  I  can  truly  say,  ^  Herein  do 
I  exercise  myself,  always  to  have  a  conscience  void 
of  offence,'  I  cannot  be  easy  under  such  imputa- 


82  CONFESSIONS    OF   A  CONVERT. 

tions ;  and,  in  self-defence,  I  address  this  letter  to 
you,  though  its  contents  will  also  be  submitted  to 
the  consideration  of  others. 

^^  As  the  principal  purpose  for  which  I  take  my 
pen  is  to  show  you  that  I  have  sufficient  reason 
for  rejecting  the  opinion  you  so  confidently  main- 
tained, that  there  is  no  baptism  but  immersion,  I 
need  not  trouble  you  with  a  narrative  of  the  cir- 
cumstances which  have  brought  me  to  this  conclu- 
sion. I  shall  therefore  proceed  at  once  to  the  con- 
sideration of  your  recently  delivered  discourse; 
and  if  I  am  able  to  show  that  the  arguments  it 
contained  were  inconclusive,  I  think  my  conduct 
will  be  entitled  to  a  more  kind  and  candid  con- 
struction than  it  has  hitherto  received. 

"  It  will  be  in  your  recollection  that,  at  the  out- 
set of  your  reasoning,  you  advanced  the  bold  as- 
sertion that  the  original  term  haptizo  would  bear 
but  one  signification — that  its  invariable  import 
was  to  immerse.  This,  therefore,  you  assumed  to 
be  its  meaning  in  your  text ;  and  by  so  doing  you 
readily  reached  the  conclusion  that  immersion 
alone  was  baptism.  Like  some  other  points  in 
your  sermon,  there  was  a  speciousness  in  this  re- 
presentation, which  was  singularly  adapted  to  cap- 
tivate the  ignorant  and  unreflecting ;  but  a  weaker 
or  more  worthless  fallacy  I  do   not   believe   the 


REASONINGS   AND  REPLIES.  83 

whole  sect  of  the  Baptists  would  have  been  able  to 
construct.  It  is  founded  upon  two  things — a  false 
assumption,  and  a  false  assertion.  The  false  as- 
sumption is,  that  the  apostle  referred,  in  the  words 
*  one  baptism,^  to  a  ritual  observance,  and  not  to  a 
spiritual  privilege, — to  the  baptism  of  water,  not 
of  the  Spirit.  This  you  very  composedly  took  for 
granted,  and  evidently  wished  your  hearers  to  re- 
gard as  a  point  which  no  one  denied,  or  would  ever 
venture  to  dispute.  Now,  did  I  not  suspect  that 
you  had  yourself  assumed,  without  examination, 
the  same  thing  which  you  wished  your  hearers  to 
assume,  I  should  propose  to  you  the  inquiry — 
Was  this  fair  and  honourable  ?  To  me  it  appears 
very  surprising  that  any  one,  who  even  casually 
look  at  the  connection  in  which  these  words  occur, 
should  understand  them  as  you  did.  But  it  is 
still  more  extraordinary  that  you  should  so  under- 
stand them,  who  maintain  that  the  term  '■  baptism' 
means  merely  '■  immersion'  or  a  -  dipping.'  Such 
a  translation  of  the  word  in  this  place  would  alone 
I  should  have  imagined,  have  been  quite  sufficient 
to  satisfy  any  one  that  the  inspired  writer  must 
have  had  a  different  idea  in  his  mind  from  the 
mere  mode  of  administering  a  Christian  ordinance. 
Even  upon  the  theory  which  you  reject,  that  the 
word  baptism  means  an  outward  purification,  there 


84  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

would  be  a  great  incongruity  in  its  introduction  in 
the  midst  of  a  number  of  references  to  subjects 
purely  spiritual.  But  your  translation  renders  the 
incongruity  still  greater.  To  see  this,  you  have 
only  to  substitute  the  words  '  one  dipping'  for 
^  one  baptism/  and  then  to  read  the  entire  passage. 
This  simple  process,  with  most,  would,  1  am  per- 
suaded, be  decisive ;  and  if,  with  this  new  version 
of  your  text  (and  it  is  your  own,)  you  can  believe 
that  the  inspired  writer  intended  such  a  reference 
as  you  suppose — if  you  can  see  any  propriety  in 
his  connecting  together  ^  one  faith,  one  Lord,  and 
one  God  and  Father  of  all,'  with  ^  one  dipping,' — 
I  can  only  express  my  amazement,  and  avow  my 
fear  that  nothing  I  could  write  would  change  your 
opinion.  All  that  I  could  then  require  from  you 
would  be  the  reasons  (and  they  ought  to  be  very 
strong)  which  induce  you  to  affix  a  meaning  to 
the  word  '  baptism'  so  out  of  harmony  with  the 
context. 

''  But  I  think  I  can  anticipate  your  method  of 
meeting  this  demand.  You  will  adduce  the  other 
false  assumption,  or,  more  correctly,  false  asser- 
tion, which  was  frequently  repeated  during  your 
discourse,  that  to  immerse  was  the  sole  signification 
of  the  original  term.  To  this  opinion  I  have  no 
doubt  many  of  your  hearers  gave  their  assent : 


REASONINGS  AND   REPLIES.  85 

and  if  they  did  not,  it  was  certainly  no  fault  of 
yours ;  for  the  statement  was  so  made  as  to  convey 
the  strongest  assurance  to  the  uninformed  that  it 
had  never  been  denied,  and  could  not  possibly  be 
disputed.  But,  sir,  was  it  right  to  foster  so  false 
an  impression  in  an  assembly,  the  great  majority 
of  whom  had  never  heard  a  sermon,  nor  read  a 
line,  from  which  they  could  learn  the  true  state 
of  the  controversy  ?  Knowing,  as  you  did,  that 
many  of  the  most  enlightened  and  eminent  divines 
have  firmly  denied  the  very  thing  which  you  so 
confidently  asserted,  how  could  you  withhold  that 
fact  from  your  congregation,  and  thus  produce 
an  erroneous  impression  ? 

"  But  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  adduce  their 
authority  to  prove  that  the  word  haptizo  has  moye 
than  one  signification.  Limited  as  my  knowledge 
of  Grreek  may  be,  I  understand  it  sufficiently  to 
affirm  that  your  assertion  is  erroneous.  Of  this, 
the  commonist  school  lexicon  will  furnish  conclu- 
sive evidence.  But  I  will  not  attempt  to  discuss 
the  classical  meaning  of  the  term,  nor  is  it  neces- 
sary, since  your  assertion  was  confined  to  its  use 
in  the  New  Testament.  Yet  how  you  can  assign 
such  a  sense  to  it  there,  and  particularly  in  some 
passages,  I  cannot  conceive.  Do  you  really  believe 
that  the  Israelites,  who,  we  are  told,  were  hay- 
8 


86  CONFESSIONS   OF   A  CONVERT. 

tized  into  Moses  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea,  were 
really  dipped,  when  you  know  that  the  cloud 
went  ^  hefore^  them,  and  that  they  passed  through 
the  sea  ^  on  dry  ground  T  Can  you  think  that 
the  apostle,  when  he  calls  the  various  purifica- 
tions'of  the  Jews  ^divers  baptisms,'  only  referred 
to  dippings,  although  sprinkling  was  the  ordinary 
mode  ordained  and  practised,  and  that  of  which 
he  was  speaking  in  immediate  connection  with 
these  words  !  You  are  well  aware  that  the  terms 
^  washing'  and  ^  tables,'  in  the  common  transla- 
tion of  Mark  vii.  4,  are,  in  the  original,  '  bap- 
tizing' and  'beds.'  You  know,  moreover,  that 
what  in  the  preceding  verse  is  called  the  u-asliing 
of  their  hands  is  here  designated  a  baptism.  The 
following  is  the  literal  translation  of  the  passage : 
^  For  the  Pharisees  and  all  the  Jews,  except  they 
wash  their  hands  oft,  eat  not,  holding  the  tradi- 
tion of  the  elders.  And  when  they  come  from 
the  market,  except  they  baptize,  they  eat  not. 
And  many  other  things  there  be,  which  they 
have  received  to  hold,  as  the  baptism  of  cups,  and 
pots,  brazen  vessels,  and  beds/  or  couches.  Now, 
can  you,  contrary  to  the  express  declaration  of 
the  Evangelist,  that  washing  the  hands  (which 
was  generally  performed  by  water  being  poured 
upon  them)  was  a  baptism,  hold  to  your  assertion 


REASONINGS  AND  REPLIES.  87 

that  there  can  be  no  baptism  but  the  dipping  of 
the  entire  person  ?  And  will  you  adopt,  for  the 
sake  of  this  worthless  theory,  the  absurd  fiction 
that  they  dipped  their  bodies  and  their  beds  ? 
Again,  when  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  the  pro- 
phecy of  Joel  was  fulfilled,  ^  I  will  pour  out  my 
Spirit  upon  all  flesh,^  by  the  bestowment  of  that 
divine  influence  which  Peter  describes  as  being 
'  shed  forth'  upon  them,  do  you  imagine,  will  you 
venture  to  declare,  that  they  were  then  dipped 
with  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  Yet,  if  you  are  consist- 
ent, and  if  the  word  haptizo  has  no  other  mean- 
ing than  that  which  you  give  to  it,  you  must  do 
this ;  for  the  very  descent  of  divine  influence  de- 
scribed as  a  ^pouring  out,^  and  a  ^shedding 
forth,'  was  the  spiritual  baptism  which  Jesus  had 
promised  just  before  his  ascension,  when  he  said, 
'  Ye  shall  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost  not 
many  days  hence/  But  seriously,  can  you  im- 
pute to  John  and  to  Jesus  Christ,  what  in  ordi- 
nary cases  you  would  call  the  folly  of  selecting  a 
word  which  signifies  ^  to  dip  and  nothing  but  to 
dip,'  in  order  to  describe  a  ^  pouring  out'  and  a 
^  shedding  forth  V  Had  you  not  a  false  theory  to 
support,  I  am  sure  your  common  sense  would  re- 
ject as  utterly  absurd  such  a  meaning  of  the  term 
employed  by  the  Saviour.     Similar  remarks  apply 


88  CONFESSIONS   OF  A  CONVERT. 

to  the  case  of  Cornelius.  When  Peter  saw  the 
spirit  ^  falV  upon  the  centurion  and  his  company, 
'  tlien^'  he  states,  ^  remembered  I  the  word  of  the 
Lord,  how  that  he  said,  John  indeed  hoptlzed  with 
water;  but  ye  shall  be  baptized  with  the  Holy 
Ghost.'  Was  a  promise  ^  to  dip'  with  the  Holy 
Ghost  performed  when  his  influence  merely  ^feW 
upon  them  ?  Such  is  the  gross  absurdity  which 
your  way  of  understanding  the  word  haptizo  would 
compel  you  to  believe. 

^^  But  I  need  not  multiply  these  examples.  I 
will  therefore  proceed  to  the  next  topic  in  your 
discourse.  After  repeatedly  affirming  (for  argu- 
ment there  was  none)  that  haptizo  always  meant 
to  immerse,  you  attempted  to  support  your  asser- 
tion by  adducing  ^  other  terms  used  in  the  New 
Testament  to  describe  the  ordinance.'  These,  I 
am  confident,  were  your  very  words,  for  they 
attracted  my  attention  so  strongly  as  to  imprint 
themselves  indelibly  upon  my  memory.  For  a 
moment  after  this  announcement,  I  expected  some 
startling  novelty,  and  greatly  wondered  what  this 
could  be.  But  imagine  my  surprise,  on  discover- 
ing that  the  expressions  which  were  to  do  so 
much  towards  deciding  the  dispute  were  no  others 
than  the  hackneyed  ^  into'  and  ^  out  of  the  water/ 
the  inconclusiveness  of  which  in  proof  of  immer- 


REASONINGS  AND   REPLIES.  89 

sion   has    been   so   often   demonstrated.     When, 
therefore,  I  heard  jou  name  the  8  th  chapter  of 
the  Acts,  I  could  not  repress  a  smile  at  my  own 
simplicity  in  expecting  an  original  argument  on 
the  Baptist  side  of  the  controversy ;  but  as  you 
read  the  expressions  ^  into  the  water/  and  '  out  of 
the  water,'  repeating  the  words  '  into'  and  '  out 
of,'  and  laying  a  very  heavy  emphasis  upon  ^  in' 
and  '  out,'  my  smile  gave  place  to  shame  and  sor- 
row; and  I  found  it  impossible  to  restrain  the 
risings  of  what  I  thought  then,  and  think  still, 
was  a  righteous  indignation,  that  a  man  of  sense, 
and  a  minister  of  truth,  should  so  pervert  the 
meaning  of  Scripture  terms,  and  impose  upon  the 
credulity  of  the  people.     I  reasoned  thus  within 
myself,— ^  Mr.  R.  either  knows  the  original  of 
this  passage,  or  he  does  not.     If  he  does  not,  how 
unworthy  and  unwarrantable  are  all  his  preten- 
sions to  knowledge !  but  if  he  does,  how  can  he 
venture  to  handle  the  word  of  the  Lord  thus  de- 
ceitfully, and  by  so  doing,  not  only  confirm,  but 
studiously   convey   a    false   impression!'     I   am 
aware  that  you  did  not  assert  in  so  many  words 
that  the  '  into'  and  '  out  of  did  by  themselves 
describe   immersion.     Had   you   so   done,    there 
would  indeed  have  been  less  caution,  but  more 
candour;  less  contrivance,  but  greater  integrity. 
8* 


90  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

But  although  you  did  not  so  far  commit  yourself, 
the  effect  upon  your  hearers,  both  of  what  you  said, 
and  of  what  you  omitted,  was  precisely  the  same 
as  if  you  had  told  them  in  plain  terms — '  The 
meaning  of  into  and  out  of  is  immerse/  This  was 
my  conviction  when  I  heard  you ;  and  since  then  it 
has  been  confirmed  by  two  circumstances  which 
have  come  under  my  notice. 

"  One  of  these  occurred  in  a  recent  conversation 
with  Mrs.  B.,  whom  you  thoroughly  convinced,  to 
use  her  own  language,  that  the  words  ^  meant  all 
the  same  as  baptize.'     I  met  with  the  other,  last 
Sabbath,  when,  as  superintendent  of  our  Sunday 
School,  I  happened,  while  writing  at  my  desk,  to 
overhear  a  female  teacher  of  the  Testament  class 
(one  of  the  very  persons,  by  the  way,  who  were 
baptized  after  your  sermon,)  explaining  the  history 
of  Philip  and  the  eunuch  to  her  pupils.     As  my 
curiosity  was  excited  by  the  circumstance,  and  I 
rather  wished  to  hear   how  she  understood   the 
words  of  which  you  made  so  sad  a  use,  I  remained 
in  the  same  spot  until  the  children  read  the  pas- 
sage in  which  the  prepositions  occur,  when  the 
teacher  stopped  them,  and  thus  addressed  one  of 
her  pupils.     '  Well,  Jane,  who  is  here  said  to  have 
been  baptized?     Child. — 'The    eunuch.'     ^And 
what  is  baptism,  Eliza  V     '  To  be  put  under  the 


REASONINGS   AND   REPLIES.  91 

water,  teacher/  '  Very  true,  my  dear ;  and  now 
can  you  tell  me  where  it  is  said  that  this  was  the 
way  in  which  Philip  baptized  the  eunuch  V  For 
a  time  there  was  a  pause ;  and  on  a  repetition  of 
the  question,  I  saw  several  of  the  girls  carefully 
conning  over  the  history  to  find  (as  I  supposed) 
the  word  '  dip,'  or  some  similar  expression.  But 
the  search  was  ineffectual.  Not  a  child  could 
make  the  desired  discovery,  or  hit  upon  the  answer 
which  their  teacher  required.  Upon  this,  she 
proceeded,  as  nearly  as  I  can  recollect,  but  I  will 
not  be  confident  that  I  retain  every  expression,  in 
the  following  strain :  '  I  am  quite  surprised,  my 
dears,  that  you  cannot  answer  my  question.  No- 
thing can  be  plainer.  Why,  is  it  not  said  that 
they  went  down  into  the  water,  and  came  up  out  of 
the  water  ?  and  don't  you  know  that  this  means 
that  the  eunuch  was  immersed  ?  Don't  you  re- 
member that  Mr.  R.,  when  he  explained  this  pas- 
sage to  us,  said  that  nothing  could  be  clearer  ?' 
By  this  appeal  the  poor  children  were  silenced ; 
but  I  hope  they  were  wiser  than  their  teacher,  and 
far  from  being  satisfied. 

^'  I  should  not  have  mentioned  these  cases,  had 
I  not  been  persuaded  that  they  furnish  a  fair  sam- 
ple of  the  kind  of  reasoning  upon  which  very  many 
Baptists  found  their  belief  in  the  authority  of  im- 


92  CONFESSIONS   OP  A   CONVERT. 

mersion.  Though  young,  I  have  not  been  unob- 
servant ;  and  my  opportunities  of  ascertaining  the 
class  of  arguments  which  are  most  approved  by 
your  denomination,  and  to  which  its  ministers  give 
the  greatest  currency,  have  been  considerable.  I 
think,  therefore,  that  without  presumption,  I  may 
venture  to  affirm  that  nine-tenths  of  the  members 
of  the  church  in  this  town  are  as  firmly  convinced 
that  to  go  down  into,  and  come  up  out  of  the 
water,  means  to  be  immersed,  as  they  are  that  you 
intended  to  convey  to  them  that  impression.  Do 
you  deny  this  ?  Then  will  you  revisit  this  place, 
and,  without  any  previous  intimation  of  your  de- 
sign, will  you  accompany  me  to  the  houses  of  any 
twenty  members  of  the  church,  and  ask  their 
opinion  on  the  point?  I  will  readily  abide  by 
the  result. 

"  But  1/ou,  I  am  satisfied,  require  no  proof  of 
my  assertion.  You  know  too  much  of  your  own 
denomination.  How  then  can  you  sanction,  still 
more  employ,  a  mode  of  representation  which 
you  must  be  aware  only  serves  to  foster  a 
very  gross  misconception  ?  I  shall  pass  over 
your  emphatic  '  inW  and  ^  out  oV  with  the 
single  remark,  that  this  method  of  proving  im- 
mersion resembled  that  by  which  a  certain 
preacher    proved    that  the   punishment  of   the 


REASONINGS   AND   REPLIES.  93 

wicked  must  be  eternal,  because  the  Scripture 
assures  us  that  it  will  be  not  only  '  for  ever/  but 
for  '  eYerniore.' 

"  Leaving  you,  however,  to  reconcile  your  in- 
genious, but  certainly  not  ingenuous  device,  with 
fairness  and  truth,  permit  me  to  press  the  in- 
quiry— How  could  you  honestly  found  your  argu- 
ment as  you  did  upon  these  words  ?  Whatever 
others  may  imagine,  yow,  I  am  satisfied,  do 
not  hold  that  going  down  into  the  water,  and 
going  down  undei'  the  water,  are  one  and  the 
same  thing.  You  onust  know  that  the  veri/ 
utmost,  which  even  the  least  scrupulous  and  most 
determined  Baptist  can  make  these  words  mean, 
is  that  the  Evangelist  and  the  Ethiopian  stood  in 
the  water.  But  do  they  require  even  this  signifi- 
cation, or  can  you  fairly  force  it  upon  them  ?  I 
confidently  answer.  No.  And  ere  the  terms  can 
be  made  to  serve  your  purpose  thus  far,  you  must 
be  prepared  to  show  that  it  is  their  constant,  or 
at  least  their  common  import.  But  I  am  sure 
you  are  too  cautious  to  affirm  any  such  thing,  and 
are  well  aware  of  the  fact,  that  in  a  great  number 
of  texts  they  are  translated  '  at/  '  to,'  or  '  unto,' 
and  '  from  f  and  moreover,  that  they  would  not 
admit  of  any  difi"erent  rendering.  Of  this  use  I 
will  present  you  with  two  instances ;  and  I  might 


94  CONFESSIONS   OF  A  CONVERT. 

give  two  hundred.  ^  I  am  not  sent  but  unto  (not 
into)  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel.'  ^  And 
his  fellow-servant  fell  down  at  (not  into)  his  feet.' 
These  are  specimens  of  the  use  of  the  word  which 
you  read  mto ;  and  how  far  they  sanction  or  con- 
demn such  a  disingenuous  use  of  it,  I  might  con- 
fidently leave  to  every  impartial  judge.  Of  the 
sense  in  which  the  original  word  rendered  ^  out 
of/  in  the  8th  of  Acts,  often  occurs,  the  following 
are  examples.  ^The  baptism  of  John,  whence 
was  it  1  From  heaven,  or  of  men  V  ^  He  riseth 
from  supper,' 

^^Now,  sir,  do  you  suppose  that  your  recent 
hearers  in  this  place  could  have  gathered,  or  ima- 
gined, from  your  mode  of  dealing  with  these  ex- 
pressions, that  they  were  capable  of  any  construc- 
tion but  one  ?  I  do  not  ask,  whether  you  in- 
tended to  produce  the  impression  that  you  were 
conveying  the  only  signification  they  would  bear, 
but  sure  I  am  that  this  was  the  efiect  both  of 
what  you  said  and  of  what  you  omitted.  No  one, 
unless  they  were  better  informed  on  the  point 
from  other  quarters,  would  have  conceived,  from 
the  use  you  made  of  the  translation,  that  they 
ever  meant  ^  in,'  ^  to,'  ^  unto,'  ^  at,'  or  ^  from.' 
And  yours,  I  fear,  has  not  been  a  solitary  case 
of  successful  delusion  in  the  same  line.    I  know, 


REASONINGS   AND   REPLIES.  95 

indeed,  that  some  ministers  of  your  denomination 
are  too  honourable  and  too  upright  thus  to  impose 
upon  the  confidence  and  credulity  of  their  flocks. 
They  would  scorn,  for  the  sake  of  a  pulpit  tri- 
umph, or  a  party  purpose,  to  withhold  from  the 
people  what  was  due  both  to  themselves  and  to 
the  truth  of  God.  Instead  of  declaiming,  as  you 
did,  upon  the  into  and  out  of,  they  would  confess, 
as  indeed  some  of  them  have  done,  that  these 
terms  decide  nothing. 

"  And  why  do  any  act  otherwise  ?  Why  do 
they  restrict  the  meaning  of  these  indefinite  words, 
and  give  them  in  penny  tracts  and  pulpit  oratory 
such  singular  prominence  ?  You  may  deem  my 
explanation  of  this  circumstance  rather  uncharita- 
ble ;  but  I  cannot  resist,  and  I  will  not  conceal  the 
conviction  that  it  is  done  for  two  reasons.  In  the 
first  place,  I  believe  these  words  receive  so  much 
honour  because  no  better  proof  of  immersion  can 
be  found  in  the  Bible :  tolerably  conclusive  evi- 
dence, by  the  way,  that  the  whole  theory  is  a  castle 
in  the  clouds.  And,  in  the  second  place,  I  cannot 
divest  myself  of  the  conviction,  that  this  is  also 
done  because  the  argument  thus  obtained  is  spe- 
cious, and  more  calculated  to  captivate  the  igno- 
rant, and  to  make  converts  to  your  creed,  than  all 
the  elaborate  disquisitions  of  your  most  learned 


96  CONFESSIONS   OF  A  CONVERT. 

apologists.     Is  not  this  the  truth  ?     Do  you  not 
know,  that  were  you  to  inform  the  mass  of  your 
people  that  the  original  words  had  various  mean- 
ings, and  decided  nothing  in  favour  of  immersion, 
their  prejudices  would  be  shocked  and  shaken  to 
the  very  foundation,  and  that  by  this  single  blow 
the  strong  pillars  of  their  confidence  in  the  divine 
right  of  dipping  would  be  destroyed  ?     Only  try 
the  experiment.     Preach  a  thoroughly  impartial 
sermon  on  this  passage.     Bring  forward  the  paral- 
lel texts ;  and  by  these  illustrate  the  various  sig- 
nifications of  the  original  terms  here  translated 
^  into '  and  ^  out  of,'  and  mark  the  result  upon  the 
members  of  your  church.     What  would  many  of 
them  think  and  say  ?     Would  they  not  suspect 
your  orthodoxy,  or  conclude  that  you  had  turned 
Independent  ?    As  your  candid  and  truthful  expo- 
sitions drew  from  their  fond  embrace  the  mono- 
syllables in  which  they  had  long  trusted,  would 
they  not   cry  out  with   sorrow  and   alarm,    '  You 
have  taken  away  our  strong  confidence, — and  what 
have  we  more  V 

"  Your  next  argument  in  favour  of  immersion 
was  founded  upon  what  you  designated  '  the  places 
in  which  the  ordinance  was  administered.'  When 
I  heard  you  announce  your  intention  of  taking  this 
ground,  I  was  greatly  gratified,  because  I  had  pre- 


REASONINGS  AND  REPLIES.  97 

viously  arrived  at  the  conviction  thai  there  was  no 
method  in  which  the  point  in  debate  might  be 
more  fairly  viewed,  or  more  readily  determined. 
Having,  moreover,  paid  particular  attention  to  this 
very  point,  and  having  thus  had  my  conviction 
confirmed,  that  immersion  could  not  have  been  the 
ordinary  mode  of  baptizing  in  the  primitive  age,  I 
was  rather  curious  to  know  how  you  would  deal 
with  some  of  the  circumstances  in  which  the  ordi- 
nance was  administered  by  the  apostles.  These, 
instead  of  sanctioning  your  practice,  had  appeared 
to  me  to  furnish  the  clearest  proofs  against  it ; 
and  my  impression  was  that  no  sophistry,  nor 
special  pleading  whatever,  could  make  it  appear 
otherwise.  And  may  I  add  that,  notwithstand- 
ing your  announcement  as  you  proceeded,  I 
could  not  avoid  the  suspicion  that  even  you 
held  the  same  opinion?  So  limited  was  your 
selection  of  some  places,  and  so  silently  did  you 
pass  over  others,  that  I  was  constrained  to  admire 
your  discretion,  whatever  I  might  think  of  your 
impartiality. 

"  Several  localities  are  specified  in  the  New 
Testament  where  the  ordinance  was  administered. 
John  and  the  apostles,  we  learn,  baptized  in 
jEnon,  Jordan,  and  Jerusalem,  in  the  city  of 
Samaria,  in  Damascus,  in  Corinth,  in  Philippi,  in 
9 


98  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

Ca9sarea,  in  Eptesus,  in  a  desert,  in  a  private 
house,  and  in  a  prison.  When,  therefore,  you 
announced  your  intention  of  proving  immersion 
from  '  the  places'  in  which  baptism  was  per- 
formed, your  hearers  had  a  right  to  expect  some 
reference  at  least  to  the  major  part  of  those  men- 
tioned in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  But  nothing 
could  seem  to  have  been  further  from  your 
thoughts.  No,  sir;  not  one  of  these  numerous 
spots,  did  you  so  much  as  name.  As  if  aware 
that  even  an  allusion  to  them  would  damage  your 
cause,  or  defeat  your  design,  you  shunned,  with 
the  utmost  caution,  Solomon's  porch  and  the 
other  preaching  stations  at  Jerusalem;  neither 
did  you  think  it  necessary  to  go  through  Samaria, 
and  visit  a  city  supplied  from  a  solitary  well,  and 
where,  consequently,  there  could  be  neither 
^  much  water'  nor  many  Baptists  to  gladden  your 
eyes  or  help  your  argument.  With  equal  circum- 
spection, you  kept  at  a  safe  distance  from  Damas- 
cus and  Csesarea ;  and  would  on  no  account  cross 
the  boundary  of  Asia  Minor,  or  look  towards 
Ephesus,  Corinth,  and  Philippi.  All  these  were 
'  dry  places,'  abandoned  to  the  evil  spirits  of  the 
sprinklers,  and  very  dreadful  to  those  who  prac- 
tise dipping. 

^^  It  is  true  you  brought  us  '  into'  the  '  desert/ 


REASONINGS   AND   REPLIES.  99 

where  Philip  baptized  the  eunuch,  and  kept  us 
there  so  long  that  we  were  heartily  glad  to  get 
^  out  of  it  again.  But,  strange  to  say,  you  never, 
during  all  this  time,  once  told  us  to  what  place 
we  had  been  allured  by  your  syren  tongue,  and 
few  of  your  hearers  imagined  that  they  were  sur- 
rounded by  arid  wastes  and  scorching  sands.  And 
why  was  this  ?  Did  you  apprehend  that  the  mere 
name  ^  desert'  would  have  originated  reasonings, 
or  suggested  suspicions  unfriendly  to  your  de- 
sign ?  Were  you  fearful  that  it  might  diminish 
the  force  or  destroy  the  illusion  of  the  decisive 
'  into'  and  ^  out  of,'  or  that  it  would  instantly  dry 
up  the  broad  river  with  which  your  heated  and 
airy  fancy,  as  with  the  deceitful  mirage  which 
mocks  the  weary  traveller,  had  watered  that  dry 
and  thirsty  land  ?  If  so,  I  commend  your  cau- 
tion. It  was  admirably  prudent.  Had  you  done 
otherwise — had  you  faithfully  described  the  fea- 
tures of  an  Eastern  desert,  and,  particularly,  had 
you  told  us  the  well-known  fact  that,  instead  of 
being  a  place  of  broad  streams  and  admirable  bap- 
^tisteries,  the  only  water  there  is  found  in  a  few 
scanty,  shrunken,  diminutive  rills  and  fountains, 
your  reasoning  from  '  the  places'  in  which  bap- 
tism was  performed  would  have  been  sadly 
damaged.     And  if  you  had  then  added,  what  I 


100  CONFESSIONS   OF   A  CONVERT. 

presume  you  must  have  known,  that  all  the  tra- 
vellers since  the  days  of  Jerome  have  failed  to 
discover,  in  the  region  through  which  the 
Ethiopian  journeyed,  any  stream  deep  enough  for 
an  immersion,  the  consequences  would  have 
been,  first,  the  amazement  of  your  confiding 
hearers,  and,  secondly,  the  annihilation  of  your 
poor  argument. 

^^  After  having  seen  you  studiously  shun  many 
noble  cities,  I  was  not  surprised  at  your  keeping 
far  aloof  from  the  house  of  Cornelius,  and  shrink- 
ing with  dread  from  the  prison  at  Philippi.  The 
latter,  especially  in  tlie  dead  of  night,  was  one  of 
the  most  unpleasant  and  inconvenient  places  into 
which  a  worthy  Baptist  minister  could  have  been 
thrust ;  and  I  question  whether  he  would  not  find 
it  quite  as  easy  in  such  a  situation  to  burst  the 
prison  bolts  and  bars  as  to  immerse  an  adult.  To 
create  a  bath  or  construct  a  baptistery  in  an  East- 
ern dungeon,  to  change  apparel,  and  make  other 
preparations,  to  stand  up  to  the  middle  in  water 
until  the  gaoler  and  family  were  dipped,  and^ 
moreover,  to  do  all  this  in  ^  the  same  hour  of  the 
night'  on  which  he  was  converted,  certainly  de- 
manded such  conveniences  and  resources  as  fully 
to  justify  the  dislike  with  which  you  turned  from 
such  a  spot  and  such  a  service.    I  know  that  some 


REASONINGS   AND   REPLIES.  101 

of  your  brethren  are  ^  very  bold  'j  and  however 
their  physical  powers  may  be  restrained,  they  act 
upon  the  principle  that  their  spirits  are  free.  And 
^  free'  indeed  they  sometimes  are, — so  free  that, 
finding  no  good  baptistery  within  the  prison  walls, 
they  have  ventured,  without  authority,  to  open  its 
doors,  and  to  lead  Paul  with  the  gaoler  and  his 
household  through  the  city  to  some  river  in  the 
neighbourhood ;  and  having  seen  the  converts  well 
dipped  in  the  dark,  they  have  led  them  back 
again,  and  safely  restored  them  to  their  cells,  if 
not  to  the  stocks  !  I  do  not  charge  this  folly 
upon  you,  because  you  acted  the  wiser  part  of 
saying  nothing  on  the  subject. 

'•^  And  now,  sir,  permit  me  seriously  to  ask,  why 
you  omitted  all  these  references  to  '  the  places'  in 
which  baptism  was  administered.  Was  it  because 
the  circumstances  of  Eastern  cities,  dwellings, 
deserts,  and  dungeons  could  throw  no  light  at  all 
upon  the  practice  of  the  apostles  ?  Or  was  it  be- 
cause the  light  thus  obtained  would  have  made 
revelations  of  which  your  hearers  had  never 
dreamed,  and  have  disclosed  diificulties  and  engen- 
dered doubts  which  would  have  seriously  obstructed 
your  design  ? 

^^  You  cannot  but  know  that  many  wise  and  up- 
right men  reject  your  theory  of  baptism,  amongst 
9* 


102  CONFESSIONS   OP  A  CONVERT. 

other  reasons,  because  tliey  cannot  reconcile  it 
with  ^  the  places'  and  circumstances  in  which  the 
rite  was  originally  practised.  Now,  their  objec- 
tions were  entitled  to  your  attention,  and,  before 
you  spoke  so  positively  on  the  point,  you  ought  to 
have  noticed  them.  And  I,  for  one,  should  have 
been  much  interested  to  have  heard  by  what  pro- 
cess, for  example,  the  three  thousand  could  have 
been  dipped  at  Jerusalem  on  the  very  day  of  their 
conviction.  As  all  the  apostles  must  have  been 
occupied  in  this  labour  at  the  same  time,  they 
must  have  required  either  a  dozen  separate  baptis- 
teries, or  one  at  least  twelve  times  as  large  as  that 
in  which  you  officiate.  Now,  it  would  have  been 
a  piece  of  information,  as  curious  as  it  would  be 
valuable,  had  you  even  surmised  in  what  part  of 
the  city,  or  from  what  source,  especially  during 
the  passover,  when  water  was  so  precious,  the  de- 
spised Galileans  could  have  obtained  this  large 
supply.  It  would  also  have  been  interesting  had 
you  suggested  how  the  multitude  were  so  speedily 
prepared  for  the  service,  and  the  whole  affair  des- 
patched with  so  much  ease  and  expedition,  as  the 
inspired  narrative  would  lead  us  to  suppose.  You 
do  not  believe,  I  presume,  that  these  foreign  Jews, 
who  had  been  drawn  by  mere  rumour  to  the  place 
where  Peter  was  preaching,  and  without  the  least 


REASONINGS   AND  REPLIES.  103 

conception  of  the  result,  came  there,  like  those 
whom  Mr.  B.  recently  immersed,  suitably  dressed 
for  the  occasion,  or  that  each  of  them  brought  a 
baptizing  suit  under  his  arm.  How  then  was  the 
ablution  performed  ?  Were  they  all  plunged  in 
their  ordinary  apparel  ?  and  after  their  drench- 
ing, did  they  in  this  picturesque  condition  walk 
back  to  their  places  of  abode,  to  the  great  edi- 
fication of  the  boys  and  girls  of  Jerusalem  ?  Or 
do  you  suppose  that,  as  soon  as  they  heard  the 
command,  '  Be  baptized,  every  one  of  you,'  they 
dispersed,  and  were  seen  running  in  every  direction 
through  the  streets  of  the  city  to  their  respective 
dwellings,  to  procure  changes  of  raiment  for  the 
purpose  ?  And  what  do  you  think  of  the  case  of 
the  apostles  ?  Had  they  on  the  morning  of  that 
day  foreseen  the  duty  they  would  be  called  to  dis- 
charge ?  and  had  they  made  this  necessary  provi- 
sion? Something  of  this  kind  must  have  been 
done  both  by  the  baptized  and  the  baptizers,  if 
the  former  were  initiated  by  dipping. 

"  I  could  have  wished,  also,  that  you  had  said 
something  about  the  time  which  must  have  been 
consumed  in  this  process.  When  you  saw  Mr.  B. 
baptize  seven  adults  in  our  chapel,  he  took  about 
half  an  hour  in  that  service.  Now,  had  he  con- 
tinued at  the  same  work,  without  relaxation,  for 


104  CONFESSIONS   OF   A  CONVERT. 

six  hours  (the  very  utmost  period  which  the  apos- 
tle could  have  occuj^iecl  in  baptizing  the  3000,)  he 
would  have  administered  the  rite  to  about  ninety 
persons.  Possihli/,  with  great  diligence  and  de- 
spatch, the  number  might  have  been  doubled, 
though  it  would  have  been  wet  and  weary  work. 
Now  multiply  180  by  12,  (the  number  of  the  apos- 
tles,) and  you  will  have  a  total  of  2160.  A  greater 
number  than  this  it  must  have  been  physically 
impossible  for  them  to  have  immersed ;  but  even 
then,  nearly  a  third  of  the  converts  would  have 
remained  unbaptized.  And  all  this  supposes  that 
no  preparation  whatever  was  requisite  for  the  im- 
mersion of  this  multitude ;  that  every  thing  was 
perfectly  ready,  and  immediately  at  hand ;  and  that 
there  was  a  river  or  reservoir  just  at  the  preaching 
station,  with  suitable  dresses,  separate  apartments, 
and  every  other  requisite  for  the  service.  How 
pleased  would  many  of  your  hearers  have  been — 
none  more  than  myself — had  you  explained  how 
all  this  was  accomplished !  Considering  the  cir- 
cumstances, the  immersion  of  so  many  in  so  short 
a  time  must  have  been  almost  as  miraculous  as  the 
gift  of  tongues,  or  any  other  of  the  wonders  of  that 
memorable  day.  But  you  wisely  abstained  from 
such  presumptuous  speculations,  and  discreetly 
avoided  the  road  to  Jerusalem.     Ah,  sir !  silence 


REASONINGS   AND   REPLIES.  105 

is  ofttlmes  more  significant  than  speech,  and  such 
circumspect  omissions  suggest  strange  surmisings. 
^'But  although  the  majority  of  ^  the  places'  in 
which  baptism  was  performed  during  the  first  age 
of  Christianity  was  disregarded,  you  did  not,  I 
allow,  altogether  omit  a  reference  to  those  locali- 
ties.    Out  of  the  nine  named  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, two   have  secured  the  signal  favour  and 
special  patronage  of  your  denomination,  and  these 
in  your  recent  sermon  (most  unfairly,  I  think) 
monopolized  .your  attention.    As  I  listened  to  you, 
I  was  forcibly  struck  with  a  parallel  between  your 
case  and  that  of  Lot,  when  he  parted  company 
with  his  generous  relative.     Although  the  whole 
land  of  sacred  history  lay  spread  out  before  you, 
Judea,  Samaria,  Syria,  Asia  Minor,  and  Macedo- 
nia, and  you  had  the  opportunity  of  traversing  its 
entire  extent,  you  looked  over  its  varied  scenery, 
but  could  discover  no  ground  on  which  to  con- 
struct a  theory  or  raise  an  argument  in  favour  of 
immersion.     No  sooner,  however,  did  your  wan- 
dering and  weary  eye  rest  upon  the  ^  well-watered ' 
plains  of  Jordan,  and  upon  ^^non,  with  its  many 
springs,  than,  exulting  in  the  imaginary  advan- 
tages of  such  localities  for  frequent  immersions,  you 
gladly  separated  yourself  from  those  who,  like  Abra- 
ham, fear  not  to  take  any  direction, — you  hastily 


106  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

turned  from  the  dry  regions  which  the  apostles 
traversed,  and  from  the  arid  spots  where  they  bap- 
tized; and,  at  the  risk  of  higher  interests  than 
those  of  a  denomination,  here  you  resolved  to  pitch 
your  tent,  and  found  your  theory. 

"  You  may  possibly  smile  at  my  comparison,  but 
I  will  now  turn  to  topics  which  should  make  you 
serious.  Permit  me,  then,  to  inquire  why  you 
selected  Jordan  and  JSnon  only,  and  maintained 
throughout  your  discourse  the  silence  of  the  grave 
in  regard  to  the  features  of  those  more  numerous 
places  which  I  have  named  ?  And  allow  me  also 
to  ask,  whether  it  never  struck  you  as  strange  that 
you  and  your  brethren,  who  so  loudly  profess  to 
tread  in  the  steps  of  inspired  men  more  closely 
than  others,  and  to  conform  more  exactly  to  their 
proceedings,  should  be  forced  to  go  for  their  strong- 
est arguments  to  the  practice  of  John,  while  they 
shun  the  path  of  the  apostles. 

^'  But  there  is  another  consideration  connected 
with  the  baptisms  of  the  great  forerunner  of  our 
Lord  which  deserves  your  particular  attention. 
You  are  well  aware  that  the  two  references  upon 
which  you  rely  stand  alone.  It  was  John  only 
who  selected  Jordan  and  j^non,  because  these 
spots  were  abundantly  supplied  with  water.  No- 
thing of  this  kind  is  stated  in  reference  to  any  of 


REASONINGS   AND   REPLIES.  107 

the  apostles.     Not  a  syllable  occurs  in  the  Acts 
which  would  sanction  the  supposition  that  they 
fixed  upon  streams  for  preaching-stations ;  and  not 
even  the  most  shadowy  allusion  can  be  discerned 
which  would  support  the  belief  that  they  needed 
much  water  for  their  baptisms.     On  the  contrary, 
it  is  perfectly  evident  that  at  all  times,  and  in  all 
places,  they  found  enough  for  this  purpose.     In- 
stead of  going  to  the  Jordan,  or  to  ^non,  they 
obtained,  as  we  have  seen,  an  ample  supply  on  the 
very  spots  where  they  delivered   their  message, 
whether  this  was  done  in  a  city,  a  dwelling,  a  dun- 
geon, or  a  desert.     Now  how  do  ymi  account  for  a 
difference  so  very  marked,  and  so  very  remarkable  ? 
If  John  chose  these  two  stations  solely  because 
they  supplied  water  enough  for  dipping  his  disci- 
ples, is  it  not  singular  that  none  of  the  apostles 
should   have   ever   made   any  similar   selection  ? 
They  also  baptized  great  numbers;   and  if  they 
did  this  by  immersion,  it  is   not  easy  to  explain 
the  great  difference  between  his  proceeding  in  this 
respect  and  theirs.     Upon  your  scheme,  it  is  very 
unaccountable,    if    much    water    was    necessary 
merely  for  baptism,  that  John  should  have  been 
stationary,  and  the  apostles  itinerating;  that  he 
should    have    been    obliged,    for    the    sake   of 
sufficient    baptismal   water,   to   remain    long   at 


108  CONFESSIONS   OF  A  CONVERT. 

Jordan  and  JEnon,  while  they  went  everywhere, 
and,  wherever  they  went,  found  an  ample  supply. 
"  But  there  is  a  key  to  this  mystery,  though  it 
is  not  that  which  you  carried  into  our  pulpit.  It 
is  found  in  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  John ; 
and  will  be  easily  discovered,  if  the  simple  ques- 
tion be  but  fairly  answered, — For  what  purpose 
did  he  require  water  in  the  greatest  quantity,  in 
order  that  he  might  fulfil  his  mission,  and  con- 
tinue his  ministrations  amongst  the  multitudes 
that  came  to  his  baptism  ?  I  need  not  remind 
you  (for  you  have  quoted  the  words  often  enough) 
that  he  baptized  in  ^non  'because  there  was 
much  water  there. ^  Hence  it  appears  that  the 
ample  supply  of  this  necessary  of  life  was  the 
chief  motive  for  this  selection.  If,  then,  we  can 
ascertain  ivhi/  water  was  most  needed,  we  shall  in- 
stantly discover  the  reason  of  his  choice.  Was  it 
then  for  the  performance  of  baptism,  or  for  any 
other  purpose  ?  Now  I  readily  allow  that  '  much 
water'  must  have  been  required,  not  merely  for 
the  immersion,  but  even  for  the  affusion  of  the 
myriads  who  came  to  John's  baptism ;  but,  how- 
ever great  the  quantity  which  might  have  been 
necessary  for  such  a  service,  the  question  is  this, 
— Was  not  much,  vety  much,  more  essential  for 
any  other  use  ?     This  is  the  pivot  upon  which  the 


REASONINGS  AND  REPLIES.  109 

exi^lanation  of  the  passage  turns.  If  it  can  be 
shown  that  a  quantity  immeasurably  greater  than 
would  be  requisite  for  the  immersion  of  his  fol- 
lowers was  in  daily  demand  for  a  different  pur- 
pose, it  cannot  be  supposed  that  the  evangelist 
would  have  assigned  the  weaker  reason  for  John's 
selection  of  jEnon,  and  have  disregarded  the 
stronger. 

^'  If  you  will  admit  the  reasonableness  of  this 
rule  of  judging,  the  dispute  may  be  speedily  de- 
cided. In  the  fii'st  place,  you  have  only  to  com- 
pute the  numbers  that  went  to  John's  ministry  j 
in  the  second  place,  to  consider  the  prodigious 
quantity  of  water  which  such  a  multitude  must 
have  required  for  themselves  and  their  cattle; 
and,  finally,  to  compare  that  quantity  with  what 
would  have  been  sufficient  for  their  immersion, — 
and  the  reason  of  John's  choice  will  be  instantly 
apparent.  After  such  a  comparison,  could  any 
candid  person  hesitate  for  a  moment  to  allow  that 
immeasurably  more  water  was  essential  for  the 
ordinary  use  of  these  myriads  than  for  their  5ap- 
tkiUj  however  administered  ?  And  if  so,  is  not 
the  inference  much  more  probable  that  John 
fixed  upon  the  vicinity  of  Jordan  and  ^non  '  be- 
cause there  was  much  water  there,'  that  his  nu- 
merous auditors  might  not  be  compelled  to  leave 
10 


110  CONFESSIONS   OF  A  CONVERT. 

his  ministry  by  the  scarcity  of  this  necessary  of 
lifcj  than  your  very  unsatisfactory  theory  ?  Let 
the  two  explanations  be  placed  before  any  impar- 
tial person,  and  I  will  readily  abide  by  their  de- 
cision. But  nothing  like  this  was  attempted  in 
your  sermon.  On  the  contrary,  you  never  uttered 
a  syllable  which  could  have  led  us  to  suppose  that 
there  was  any  purpose  whatever  for  which  the 
waters  of  ^non  might  have  been  required,  ex- 
cept that  of  immersing  the  people ;  nor  even  that 
a  different  motive  for  John's  selection  ever  had 
been,  or  ever  could  be  assigned. 

"  But  I  must  here  break  for  a  moment  the 
thread  of  my  observations  upon  this  point,  for  the 
purpose  of  making  a  single  remark.  When  you 
founded  your  argument  upon  the  places  which 
John  chose,  you  reasoned  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
produce  the  impression  that,  unless  he  had  been 
within  reach  of  a  large  stream,  he  could  not  have 
baptized  the  people ;  but  some  of  your  writers, 
who  also  insist  upon  the  same  point,  see  no  diffi- 
culty whatever  in  the  supposition  that  the  apostles 
dipped  3000  in  Jerusalem  during  a  single  after- 
noon, and  multitudes  in  other  places,  as  soon  as 
they  were  converted.  All  this,  in  their  view,  was 
very  possible ;  indeed,  it  was  perfectly  easy, — 
nothing  more  so  !     How  it  was  so  easy  they  do 


REASONINGS   AND   REPLIES.  Ill 

not  inform  us ;  but  they  are  infallibly  sure  of  the 
fact.  It  was  absolutely  necessary,  forsooth,  that 
John  should  have  kept  hard  by  Jordan  or  ^non, 
to  obtain  sufficient  water  for  his  immersions ;  but 
the  more  fxivoured  apostles  could  find  enough  for 
theirs  anywhere.  I  marvel  much  that  the  oppo- 
site representations  of  your  advocates,  and  their 
contradictory  reasonings,  do  not  convince  you  that 
your  immersion  scheme  has  in  it  nothing  of  the 
coherence  and  consistency  of  truth,  and  that  what 
you  build  up  with  one  hand  you  are  compelled  to 
pull  down  with  the  other. 

"  But  I  must  return  to  ^non.  And  I  do  this 
in  order  to  ask  in  what  way  you  conceive  it  to 
have  been  possible  for  John  to  have  fulfilled  his 
course,  had  he  ministered  in  any  place  which  did 
not  yield  much  water  ?  Had  he  chosen  a  spot 
where  the  supply  was  scanty,  would  '  Jerusalem, 
and  all  Judea,  and  all  the  region  round  about 
Jordan,'  have  gone  to  his  baptism  ?  Great  as  was 
his  fame,  would  that  have  been  sufficiently  attrac- 
tive to  overcome  the  dread  of  a  dry  and  thirsty 
land,  or  to  have  induced  a  multitude  to  expose 
themselves  in  that  hot  climate,  even  for  a  single 
day,  to  the  terrible  efi"ects  of  the  want  of  water  ? 
Need  I  remind  you  of  the  motive  which  prompts 
the  wandering  Arab  to  pitch  his  tent,  and  the  tra- 


112  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

veiling  caravan  to  form  an  encampment  ?  Do  you 
not  know  that  they  are  always  influenced  by  the 
very  reason  which,  I  believe,  led  John  to  the 
Jordan  ?  Is  it  necessary  for  me  to  adduce  evi- 
dence of  the  factj  that  in  the  East  a  well  or  water- 
spring  has,  far  beyond  any  other  cause,  attracted 
multitudes  to  its  locality,  and  caused  villages  and 
cities  to  spring  up  around  it  ?  When,  therefore, 
you  recollect  that  the  attendants  upon  John's 
ministry  could  rarely  have  been  fewer  than  the  in- 
habitants of  a  large  town,  and  that  he  continued 
his  labours  through  a  part  of  the  year  when  many 
of  the  springs  of  Judea  had  failed,  must  it  not  be 
evident  that,  had  he  not  selected  a  station  where 
water  was  both  abundant  and  unfailing,  the  mul- 
titudes that  came  to  his  baptism  could  not  even 
have  been  sprinkled,  much  less  supplied  and  satis- 
fied ?  He,  therefore,  wisely  fixed  upon  JEinon ; 
and  he  did  this,  I  am  persuaded,  for  precisely  the 
same  reason  which  induced  Moses  to  select  another 
and  very  similar  place  of  sojourn  in  the  wilder- 
ness. '  And  they  came  to  Elim,  where  there  were 
twelve  wells  of  water,  and  threescore  and  ten  palm 
trees  ;  and  they  encamped  there  by  the  waters.' 

^'  The  natural  explanation  of  John's  choice  is 
both  illustrated  and  confirmed  by  other  considera- 
tions.    In  the  first  place,  the  literal  translation  of 


REASONINGS  AND  HEPLIES.  113 

the  original  words  (as  you  well  know),  rendered 
^  much  water/  would  be  ^  manij  waters  /  and  the 
terms  evidently  designate  several  small  streams  or 
wells,  like  those  at  Elim,  and  not  a  body  of  water 
fit  for  a  baptistery,  such  as  you  would  delight  in, 
and  as  your  representations,  without  proof  or  pro- 
bability, led  your  unreflecting  hearers  to  believe 
existed  in  that  place.  And,  secondly,  with  this 
opinion,  but  with  no  other,  the  facts  agree,  that 
Josephus,  who  describes  all  the  principal  fountains 
of  Judea,  never  so  much  as  names  iEnon ;  and, 
further,  that  a  solitary  well  is  all  that  now  remains 
to  mark  the  position  of  this  far-famed  source  of 
much  water  and  more  controversy. 

^'  But  while  I  do  not  believe  that  the  springs 
of  ^non  were  suitable  for  plunging  a  multitude, 
Jordan,  I  grant,  was  deep  enough  to  dip  and 
drown  the  whole  population  of  the  land.  In  that 
ample  stream,  indeed,  immersion  was  quite  possi- 
ble. But  is  it  probable  that  the  neighbourhood 
of  this  river  was  chosen  for  such  a  purpose  merely, 
when  a  different  supposition  accounts  so  much 
better  for  its  selection  ?  I  was  just  going  to  say, 
you  surely  would  not  found  an  argument  upon  the 
expression  '  in'  Jordan  :  but  I  had  forgotten,  for 
a  moment,  that  you  did  this  in  your  sermon  ;  and 
that,  by  so  doing,  you  demonstrated  still  more 
10=*^ 


114  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

than  before  the  miserable  weakness  of  a  cause 
which  required  such  support, — whilst,  moreover, 
if  you  did  not  impose  upon  yourself,  you  sadly 
misled  that  portion  of  your  hearers  who  could  be 
caught  by  the  mere  sound  of  words  and  show  of 
argument.  Surely,  you  must  know  that  '  in,' 
when  used  as  it  is  here,  before  the  name  of  a 
place,  commonly  signifies  ^  at/  You  would,  I  am 
convinced,  admit  that  this  is  its  meaning,  when 
we  read  '  in  ^non,'  and  ^  in  Bethabara.'  And  no 
one  would  hesitate  for  a  moment  to  admit  that  the 
words  ^  at  ^non,'  and  '  at  Bethabara,'  would  ex- 
actly convey  the  import  of  the  expression.  Why, 
then,  should  a  different  construction  be  forced  upon 
the  same  term  when  ^  Jordan'  follows  it  ?  I  am 
sure  that  you  can  give  me  none,  except  it  be  this  : 
that  ^  in'  supplies  a  more  plausible  argument  for 
immersion  than  ^  at.' 

^'  You  and  some  of  your  brethren  must  possess 
an  extraordinary  measure  of  that  faith  which  re- 
moves mountains,  or  I  am  sure  the  gigantic  diffi- 
culties which  oppress  your  theory  of  John's 
baptism  would,  long  ere  now,  have  crushed  it  to 
the  dust.  But  so  far  from  this,  they  have  not 
made  you  either  stumble  or  stagger  in  your  adven- 
turous course  of  bold  assertion.  If,  for  instance, 
the  forerunner  of  Jesus  was  such  a  Baptist  as  you 


REASONINGS  AND  REPLIES.  115 

imagine,  he  must  have  spent  his  days  up  to  the 
waist  in  water,  plunging,  with  breathless  haste 
and  undiminished  vigour,  the  multitudes  who 
flocked  to  his  baptism.  Such  bodily  exercise  may, 
in  your  esteem,  differ  essentially  from  that  ^  which 
profiteth  little ;'  and  possibly  this  mode  of  living, 
which  to  me  seems  more  allied  to  that  of  the  fish 
than  of  the  man,  may  appear  dignified  and  delight- 
ftd.  ^  There  is  no  accounting  for  tastes ;'  but  I 
have  grave  doubts  whether,  even  if  you  survived 
the  experiment,  a  month's  labour,  such  as  you 
impute  to  John,  would  not  marvellously  modify 
your  views  and  feelings,  and  prepare  you  to  adopt 
those  milder  measures  which  you  now  abhor.  Be 
that  as  it  may,  it  appears  to  me,  and  to  many 
more,  that  the  wet  and  weary  work  which  you 
assign  to  the  honoured  herald  of  the  Messiah,  and 
in  which,  if  he  immersed  all  his  converts,  his  time 
and  energies  must  have  been  wholly  absorbed,  ac- 
cord but  very  little  with  the  sublime  purpose  he 
was  sent  of  Grod  to  fulfil,  or  with  the  certain  fact 
that  a  large  proportion  of  his  time  was  occupied 
in  preaching  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom. 

•^  To  these  remarks  I  have  only  to  add  a  brief 
reference  to  the  long  period  which  John's  baptisms 
(if  they  were  immersions)  must  have  consumed. 
It  was  this  view  of  the  subject  which  first  shook 


116  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

my  faith  in  your  doctrine  of  baptisms ;  and  the 
more  I  have  considered  it,  the  stronger  has  the 
conviction  grown  that  it  was  physically  impossible 
for  him  to  have  dipped  his  proselytes.  If  he  did, 
he  plunged  as  many  every  day  as  the  most  expert 
and  vigorous  immersionist  in  Christendom  could 
now  do  in  a  week,  and  thus  performed  the  work  of 
seven  weary  years  in  less  than  one  !  If  you  can 
either  believe  this,  or,  upon  your  principle,  draw 
from  the  Scripture  history  any  different  conclusion, 
I  shall  greatly  marvel. 

"  But  I  must  now  consider  your  closing  argu- 
ment, and  that  which  you  intended  to  be  so  in 
more  senses  than  one.  It  was  deduced,  you  will 
remember,  from  the  words  of  Paul,  '•  hurled  with 
him  in  baptism.'  In  this  metaphor  you  thought 
you  could  discover  a  very  distinct  allusion  to  dip- 
ping. Now  I  had  frequently  heard  this  passage 
quoted  by  Baptists  before  I  heard  it  from  you  \ 
but  I  know  not  how  it  was  that  you  contrived, 
either  by  your  delivery  or  your  mode  of  illustra- 
tion, to  suggest  to  my  imagination  more  vivid  con- 
ceptions on  the  subject  than  I  had  ever  before  en- 
tertained. I  was  constrained,  for  instance,  while 
Mr.  B.  was  administering  the  ordinance,  to  look  at 
the  whole  proceeding  as  a  burial  service,  the  bap- 
tistery as  a  species  of  sepulchre,  and  our  worthy 


REASONINGS   AND   REPLIES.  117 

pastor  as  the  sexton  in  this  very  singular  kind  of 
interment.  All  that  seemed  wantino;  to  render  the 
resemblance  perfect  was,  that  the  officiating  per- 
son, instead  of  descending  icith  the  party  about  to 
be  '  buried  in  baptism/  should  merely  stand  on 
one  side  of  '  the  watery  grave  •/  while  a  deacon,  or 
some  other  spiritual  sub-sexton,  stood  opposite  to 
him,  and,  with  ropes  duly  adjusted,  should  have 
slowly  let  down  the  body  into  the  baptistery, 

"  It  is  possible  that,  in  your  expositions  of  this 
passage,  you  have  not  been  accustomed  to  carry 
out  the  idea  quite  so  far  as  I  did ;  but  yet  I  think 
you  do  this  rather  further  than  reason  or  Scripture 
warrants.  For  what  is  the  effect  which  your  use  of 
the  term  ^  buried  in  baptism '  must  have  produced 
upon  uninstructed  persons  ?  Unacquainted,  as 
they  are,  with  the  ancient  method  of  entombment, 
they  would  think  merely  of  a  common  grave,  and 
fancy  some  resemblance  between  the  lowering  of  a 
corpse  and  the  plunging  of  a  convert.  This,  I 
admit,  like  some  of  your  other  representations,  is 
well  calculated  to  catch  and  captivate  the  ignorant. 
But  you  know  that  the  idea  thus  suggested  is  not 
the  sentiment  of  the  passage, — that  Paul  never 
saw,  nor  heard  of,  nor  imagined  a  burial  like  that 
which  is  most  common  amongst  ourselves;  and, 
therefore,  that  he  could  not  have  intended  any  al- 


118  CONFESSIONS    OF    A    CONVERT. 

lusion  to  it.  This,  whatever  other  use  you  may 
make  of  the  words,  you  ought  to  have  explained, 
and  not  to  have  fostered  the  delusion  which,  upon 
this  point,  is  so  prevalent  amongst  the  Baptists. 
I  do  not  believe  that  the  apostle  alluded  to  any 
mode  of  burial;  but  if  he  did,  it  is  self-evident 
that  it  must  have  been,  not  to  a  mode  like  ours, 
which  was  then  unknown,  but  to  that  which  was 
practised  in  Judea.  What  that  was,  you  know. 
Instead  of  loioering  the  body  into  a  grave,  it  was 
candied  into  a  cave  or  chamber,  such  as  the  sepul- 
chres of  our  Lord  and  Lazarus,  and  there  placed 
on  a  shelf,  or  in  a  niche,  ^  as  the  manner  of  the 
Jews  was  to  bury.'  Did  your  late  hearers  dream 
of  this,  when  you  declaimed  to  them  about  being 
'  buried  in  baptism  V  Had  they  known  the  simple 
fact  which  I  have  just  stated,  and  been  compelled 
to  seek  for  a  correspondence  between  a  burial  in 
Judea  and  a  baptism  in  Salem  Chapel,  how  per- 
plexed, how  confounded  would  they  have  been ! 
That  most  elaborate  part  of  your  sermon,  sir,  would 
have  only  confused,  instead  of  convincing  them. 
An  acquaintance  with  Jewish  rites  and  Oriental 
customs  is,  generally,  in  high  repute,  on  account 
of  the  light  which  this  knowledge  throws  upon 
many  Scripture  allusions.  Would  that  this  branch 
of  biblical  literature  was  more  cultivated  by  your 


REASONINGS   AND   REPLIES.  119 

denomination  I  It  would,  I  am  convinced,  greatly 
promote  the  right  understanding  of  God's  word  j 
hut — it  would  annihilate  your  most  popular  argu- 
ments for  immersion. 

"But,  however  important  the  knowledge  of 
ancient  usages  might  generally  be,  it  is  by  no 
means  necessary  to  destroy  the  illusion  created 
by  your  misapplication  of  the  words  ^buried  in 
baptism,'  if  you  would  only  translate  them  in 
exact  accordance  with  your  theory  and  practice. 
If,  instead  of  saying  ^buried  in  baptism/  you 
were  to  say  ^  buried  in  dipping/  I  feel  convinced 
that  all  your  rhetoric  would  fail  to  produce  the 
belief  that  a  representation  so  strange  and  sense- 
less could  have  proceeded  from  an  inspired  pen. 

"  Hitherto  my  reasoning  upon  these  misused 
expressions  has  been  founded  upon  the  assump- 
tion that  they  contain  some  reference,  at  least,  to 
baptism  by  water,  if  not  (as  you  imagine)  to  the 
mode  of  its  administration.  This,  in  your  ser- 
mon, you  quietly  took  for  granted,  as  many  of 
your  brethren  had  done  before  you.  But,  in 
reality,  is  there  any  such  reference  either  in  the 
6th  of  Romans,  or  in  a  parallel  passage  in  the  2d 
of  Colossians  ?  Is  it  quite  so  evident  as  you  ap- 
peared to  think  that  Paul  spake  merely  of  an  out- 
ward rite,  or  ceremonial  observance  ?     Might  he 


120  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

not  have  intended  to  describe  an  mioard  opera- 
tion, a  spiritual  cleansing  ?  The  word  '  baptism' 
alone  decides  nothing  on  this  point.  It  7nai/,  in- 
deed, designate  the  application  of  water,  but  it 
max/  refer  to  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
This,  surely,  you  will  not  dispute.  The  '  promise 
of  the  Father,'  which  Jesus  left  with  his  disciples 
when  he  ascended  to  his  throne,  was  this, — ^Ye 
shall  be  haptized  with  the  Holy  Grhost  •'  and  in 
these  words  he  described,  as  John  had  done  be- 
fore him,  the  grand  peculiarity  of  the  Christian 
dispensation.  Why  the  word  '  baptism'  was  thus 
specially  selected  to  describe  divine  influence,  I 
need  not  stay  to  inquire;  but  that  it  ivas  so 
selected  is  certain,  and,  doubtless,  amongst  other 
reasons,  because  no  term  beside  was  equally  ex- 
pressive. Sanctioned,  then,  and  sanctified  as  this 
word  was,  by  John  and  Jesus,  to  designate  that 
spiritual  influence  which  renews  the  heart,  is  it 
probable  that  the  apostles  should  never  have 
called  the  same  blessing  by  the  same  name? 
Nothing  would  seem  more  unlikely  than  this. 
On  the  other  hand,  nothing  could  be  more  reason- 
able than  to  expect  that  they  should,  in  this  mat- 
ter, conform  to  the  teaching  of  their  Master,  and 
use  the  term  ^  baptism'  as  he  had  used  it,  to  de- 
scribe  the    Spirit   which   he   had    given    them. 


REASONINGS   AND   REPLIES.  121 

Whether  they  have  done  so  can  only  be  ascer- 
tained by  carefully  considering  the  connection  in 
which  the  word  is  found. 

^^  I  shall,  therefore,  proceed  to  the  paragraphs 
where  the  words  ^buried  in  baptism'  and  ^by 
baptism'  occur.  And  I  am  persuaded,  that  if  you 
will  but  lay  aside  the  sectarian  spectacles  through 
which  you  have  been  accustomed  to  look  at  these 
isolated  expressions,  ascertain  the  leading  senti- 
ment and  scope  of  the  passages  of  which  they 
form  a  part,  and  compare  them  with  other  meta- 
phorical terms  of  the  same  kind  with  which  they 
are  connected,  your  confidence  in  the  argument 
which  you  founded  upon  them  in  favour  of  ^  im- 
mersion' will  be  somewhat  shaken. 

^'I  cannot  here  give  a  very  minute  and  ex- 
tended exposition  of  the  passages  which  contain 
the  doubtful  term.  There  are,  however,  two 
or  three  considerations  which  would,  I  think 
carry  the  conviction  to  any  unbiassed  mind 
that  in  both  the  apostle  refers  solely  to  a 
spiritual  state. 

"1st.  It  will  not,  I  believe,  be  questioned 
that  every  other  term  employed  in  connection 
with  the  words  ^baptize'  and  'baptism'  in  these 
Scriptures  describes  spiritual  blessings.  A  dif- 
ferent signification  can  scarcely  be  given  to  the 
11 


122  CONFESSIONS   OF  A  CONVERT. 

following   expressions,  whicli  form  parts  of  tlie 
passage  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Komans  :  ^  dead  to 
sin/    ^planted   together   in   the   likeness   of  his 
death/  ^  our  old  man  crucified  with  him,  that  the 
body  of  sin  might  be  destroyed/  '■  freed  from  sin/ 
'  dead   with    Christ/    ^  dead,    indeed,   unto   sin.' 
Now,  in  the  very  midst  of  these  descriptions  of 
the   great   spiritual   change    through   which   all 
believers  have  passed,  we  meet  with  the  words, 
*  Know  ye  not,  that  so  many  of  us  as  were  bap- 
tized into  Jesus  Christ  were  baptized   into  his 
death  ?     Therefore  we  are  buried  with  him  by 
baptism  into  death/     Why,   then,   should  these 
words  be  supposed  to  refer  to  a  mere  sign,  whilst 
all  the  others  describe  the  thing  signified  ?     It  is 
not  very  probable  that  Paul  intended  to  treat  of 
two  subjects  in  one  single   paragraph.     Neither 
was  it  usual  with  him  to  compound  things  that 
difier  so  completely,  as  he  has  done  in  this  place, 
if  some  of  his  references  are  to  the  baptism  of 
water,  and  others  to  the  renewing  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.     And  why  should  such  an  unnatural  sup- 
position be  entertained  ?     It  surely  is  not  favour- 
able to  the  clear  comprehension  of  the  passage, 
however  useful  it  may  be  deemed  to  countenance 
immersion. 

^^  Similar  remarks  apply  to  the  parallel  state- 


REASONINGS    AND    REPLIES.  123 

ments  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians.     Here,  in 
the  closest   possible  connection  with   the  words 
'  buried  with  him  in  baptism/  Christians  are  de- 
scribed as  ^  complete'  in  Christ,  '  circumcised  with 
the  circumcision  made  without  hands,  in  putting 
off  the  body  of  the  sins  of  the  flesh  by  the  circum. 
cision  of  Christ,'   ^  risen  with  him  through  the 
faith  of  the  operation  of  God,'  and  '  quickened  to- 
gether with  him.'     Now,  why  assign   a  totally 
different  sense  to  figures  so  very  similar  as  those 
which  are  here  brought  together,  apparently  at 
least  to  illustrate  one  subject,  and  that  subject 
purely   spiritual  ?     I   cannot   discover   the  least 
reason  why  this  should  have  been  done.    Without 
referring  to  the  other  expressions,  though  they 
strengthen  the  argument,  it  may  suffice  to  select 
two  of  the  words  which  are  here  introduced  toge- 
ther,  *  circumcision'  and  ^  baptism/     The  former 
of  these  you  would,  I  suppose,  acknowledge  to  be 
entirely  figurative.  ■  This   indeed  is  unquestion- 
able, because  many  of  the  Christians  at  Colosse, 
being  Grentiles,  were,  in  a  literal  sense,  uncircum- 
cised.     But  if  it  is  certain  that  the  term  '  circum- 
cision' was  used  to  designate  a  purely  spiritual 
state,  *  the  circumcision  of  the  heart,'  is  it  proba- 
ble that  Paul  intended  the  similar  term  '  baptism' 
to  denote  a  merely  external  ordinance  ?    If  the 


124  CONFESSIONS  OF  A  CONVERT. 

one  describes  what  is  spiritual,  why  should  not 
the  other  ?  Strong  reason  ought  to  be  assigned 
for  so  strange  a  difference. 

"2d.  But  this  conclusion  obtains  additional 
support  from  other  expressions  which  stand  in 
connection  with  the  disputed  terms.  It  is  said, 
for  example,  that  we  are  ^baptized  mto  Jesus 
Christ,'  and  ^  into  his  death ;'  that  we  are  ^  buried 
with  him,  by  baptism,  mto  death/  clearly  the 
death  which  the  apostle  describes  in  the  same  sen- 
tence as  being  ^  dead  to  sin.'  Could  this  have 
been  affirmed  of  water  baptism  ?  Is  the  external 
rite  in  any  sense  a  baptism  '  into  Christ,'  or  '  into 
death  V  Do  we  thus  ^  die  indeed  unto  sin,'  or  is 
this  great  change  wrought  by  the  better  baptism 
of  the  Holy  Spirit?  Moreover,  those  who  are 
said  to  be  ^  baptized  into  death'  are  also  described 
as  *  raised  up  from  the  dead,'  hy  the  same  bap- 
tism. This  is  most  evident  from  the  following 
statement  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians. 
*  Buried  with  him  in  (or  by)  baptism,  wherein 
(or  whereby)  also  ye  are  risen  with  him.'  Hence 
it  is  most  evident,  whatever  the  operation  may  be, 
whether  of  water  or  of  the  Spirit,  that  it  is  one 
by  which  we  pass  from  death  unto  life.  But  how 
is  this  wrought?  By  what  agency  are  we  raised 
into  newness  of  life  ?    The  apostle  shall  answer 


REASONINGS   AND  REPLIES.  125 

these  questions,  and  decide  the  doubtfal  case. 
In  one  of  the  two  passages  he  tells  us  that  this  is 
done  ^  by  the  glory  of  the  Father  /  and  in  the 
other,  'through  the  faith  of  the  operation  of 
God/  I  can  scarcely  suppose  that  you  would 
assign  two  causes,  a  ritual  and  a  spiritual,  for 
the  production  of  one  joint  effect,  or  maintain 
that  the  death  and  burial  of  a  believer  are 
effected  by  an  outward  ordinance,  while  his  re- 
surrection is  wrought  by  the  glory  of  the  Father 
and  by  faith.  And  yet  I  know  not  how  you 
can  do  otherwise,  if  you  hold  to  that  interpre- 
tation of  the  text  which  you  advanced  in  your 
discourse. 

''  These,  however,  are  not  the  only  parts  of  the 
context  which  throw  light  upon  the  words  '  bap- 
tized into  his  death,'  and  'buried  with  him  in 
baptism.'  If  you  will  read  again  the  passage 
in  the  6th  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans, 
you  will  find  th^  four  different,  but  yet  very 
similar  terms,  '  dead,'  '  buried,'  '  crucified,'  and 
'  raised,'  introduced  in  immediate  connection,  and 
apparently  to  illustrate  the  same  subject.  Now, 
is  it  probable  that  representations  so  closely 
related  to  each  other  should  be  thus  connected,  if 
some  of  them  were  intended  to  describe  an 
outward  rite,  and  others  an  inward  renovation? 
11* 


126  CONFESSIONS   OF  A   CONVERT. 

On  tlie  contrary,  would  it  not  be  far  more  ac- 
cordant with  ordinary  rules  and  apostolic  usage 
to  understand  the  ^ death'  and  the  ^crucifixion/ 
the  '  burial'  and  the  ^  resurrection/  in  reference 
to  one  and  the  same  great  spiritual  change  ? 

"  3d.  I  have  yet  another  consideration  to  sub- 
mit to  you  in  confirmation  of  the  view  now  ad- 
vanced. It  is  this :  that  if  the  apostle,  in  these 
passages,  refers  to  a  symbolical  ordinance  merely, 
he  unquestionably  ascribes  to  it  efiects  which  you 
would  trace  to  a  much  higher  source ;  or,  in  other 
words,  he  teaches  the  doctrine  of  baptismal  regen- 
eration. This  neither  of  us  will  admit ;  but  how, 
with  your  view  of  the  meaning  of  the  word  ^  bap- 
tism,' you  can  deny  it,  I  do  not  understand.  He 
says,  you  will  remember,  that  we  are  ^  buried  ivith 
Christ,  hi/  baptism,  into  death/  He  does  not,  you 
perceive,  state  merely  that  baptism  resembles  a 
burial,  but  that  it  ^s  so.  Whatever  the  baptism 
of  which  he  speaks  may  be,  he  represents  it  as  the 
instrument  of  the  Christian's  spiritual  death  and 
burial.  It  introduces  him  '  into  death,' — it  buries 
him  with  Christ ;  and  in  the  parallel  passage,  as 
we  have  seen,  he  ascribes  the  Christian's  spiritual 
resurrection  from  the  dead  to  the  same  cause. 
Now,  what  can  that  baptism  be,  by  which  we  thus 
die  unto  sin  and  live  unto  righteousness,  but  the 


REASONINGS   AND   REPLIES.  127 

same  which  Peter  says  ^  saves  us  V  And  is  this 
the  baptism  of  water,  or  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  The 
apostle  just  named  answers  the  question,  by  affirm- 
ing that  it  is  '  not  the  putting  away  the  filth  of 
the  flesh,  (l  e.  not  a  mere  external  purification,) 
but  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience  towards  God/ 
And  to  me  it  seems  amazing  that  any  evangelical 
Christian  can  take  a  diflPerent  view,  or  imagine 
that  the  inspired  writer  intended  to  teach  us  that 
we  are  in  any  sense  dead  unto  sin,  and  buried 
with  Christ,  by  a  mere  immersion  of  the  body  in 
water. 

"I  am  deeply  convinced  that  your  interpreta- 
tion of  these  words  unintentionally  countenances 
the  deadly  delusion  of  baptismal  regeneration.  By 
attaching,  as  you  do,  such  peculiar  importance  to 
this  single  ordinance,  and  supporting  a  literal  in- 
terpretation of  the  term  ^baptism,'  in  the  texts 
under  consideration,  you  are  giving  your  sanction 
to  a  class  of  teachers,  and  a  system  of  error,  with 
which,  in  all  other  points,  you  have  no  sympathy. 
I  was  much  impressed  by  this  conviction  a  short 
time  since,  when  calling  at  the  house  of  one  of  our 
absentee  Sunday  scholars.  I  saw  a  tract  lying  on 
the  table,  which  had  been  just  left  there  by  the 
curate  of  our  parish,  who  is  a  semi-papist  and  a 
zealous  advocate  of  sacramental  efficacy.     It  was 


128-  CONFESSIONS   OP  A  CONVERT. 

published,  I  think,  by  the  Christian  Knowledge 
Society,  and  professedly  written  to  prove  baptismal 
regeneration.  Having  requested  permission  to 
peruse  it,  I  was  not  a  little  struck  to  find  that  the 
two  passages  upon  which  I  have  been  commenting, 
and  particularly  the  words  *  baptized  into  Jesus 
Christ,'  and  ^buried  with  him,  hy  baptism,  into 
death,'  were  relied  upon  as  main  pillars  of  that 
dangerous  heresy.  Having  returned  the  tract,  I 
am  unable  to  quote  it  extensively,  but  I  well  re- 
member one  passage.  ^In  these  words  St.  Paul 
describes  the  greatest  spiritual  change  which  can 
be  experienced, — a  death  unto  sin,  and  a  life  unto 
righteousness.  And  this  he  expressly  assures  us 
is  wrought  in  baptism,  or  ^  h}/  baptism,' — words 
which  clearly  point  to  the  instrument  by  which  it 
is  effected.  What,  therefore,  can  be  plainer  from 
hence  than  that  baptism  is  the  sacrament  of  regen- 
eration V  And  how,  with  your  view  of  the  import 
of  the  word  in  these  Scriptures,  you  could  rebut 
this  reasoning,  or  avoid  this  conclusion,  I  cannot 
conceive.  To  me  it  appears  that  the  doctrine  of 
baptismal  regeneration  inevitably  follows  from  your 
interpretation. 

^'  What  I  have  hitherto  written  has  been  merely 
in  reply  to  your  leading  arguments  for  immersion ; 
and  I  have  abstained  from  direct  evidence  in  fa- 


EEASONIXGS   AND   REPLIES.  129 

vour  of  a  different  mode.  Nor  is  such  evidence 
necessary  to  justify  the  course  which  I  have  re- 
cently taken.  If  it  can  be  shown  that  immersion 
could  not  have  been  commonly  practised  in  apos- 
tolic times,  it  will  follow  that  some  more  simple  and 
significant  mode  must  then  have  been  in  use.  Whe- 
ther this  was  pouringj  or  sprinkling,  or  both,  cannot 
now  be  certainly  ascertained  from  the  sacred  writ- 
ers. Upon  these  immaterial  points  they  are  just 
as  silent  as  they  are  respecting  immersion.  In 
your  sermon,  you  demanded  a  single  passage  which 
required  sprinkling ;  but,  surely,  you  had  forgot- 
ten that  your  brethren,  with  equal  firmness,  but 
with  no  better  success,  ask  you  to  produce  a  com- 
mand to  be  immersed.  There  is  neither, — a  pretty 
clear  evidence  that  the  author  of  this  service  did 
not  attach  to  the  method  of  its  observance  that 
measure  of  importance  which  is  ascribed  to  it  by 
you.  My  belief  is — and  I  found  it,  amongst  other 
reasons,  upon  the  absence  of  minute  direction  re- 
specting the  mode — that  the  essence  of  the  rite 
consists  in  the  application  of  water  to  the  body 
(irrespective  of  method  or  quantity)  as  an  emblem 
of  spiritual  truths.  And  I  believe,  also,  that  mode 
to  be  the  best  by  which  these  truths  are  most 
vividly  represented  to  the  mind.  What  this  is 
can,  I  think,  be  a  matter  of  inference  only.    Your 


130  CONFESSIONS   OF  A   CONVERT. 

inference  favours  immersion;  mine  affusion.  In 
that  method  you  discern  a  symbol  of  the  Spirit's 
operations.  But  this  I  cannot  discover.  In  sprink- 
ling or  pouring,  on  the  contrary,  there  appears  to 
me  a  beautiful  and  most  expressive  image  of  these 
operations; — an  image  which,  in  my  view,  shadows 
forth  as  vividly  as  any  visible  act  could  do  things 
spiritual  and  divine. 

"  I  shall  now  bring  this  letter  to  a  close.  But 
before  I  do  so,  permit  me  to  present  two  or  three 
questions  for  your  candid  consideration.  And,  in 
the  first  place,  I  would  request  you  to  reflect,  whe- 
ther your  mode  of  baptism  agrees  either  with  the 
Scripture  doctrine  of  divine  influence,  or  with  those 
accurate  representations  on  this  subject  which  you 
are  accustomed  to  address  to  your  hearers.  In 
the  sacred  writings,  we  are  taught  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  the  gift  of  Grod, — that  his  influences  are 
poured  out  upon  us  from  on  high.  But  is  this  the 
idea  which  your  mode  of  baptizing  is  adapted  to 
convey  ?  When  you  take  a  convert  and  plunge 
him  under  the  water,  do  you  imagine  that  such  an 
act  would  easily  and  naturally  suggest  the  truth, 
that  the  sacred  influence  which  the  water  repre- 
sents is  shed  down  upon  us  from  God  ?  Is  there 
the  slightest  correspondence  between  such  a  doc- 
trine and  such  a  practice  ?     On  the  contrary,  is 


REASONINGS   AND   REPLIES.  131 

there  not  between  them  the  utmost  variance  ?  If 
immersion  is  adapted  to  teach  anything  it  is  this, 
that  we  are  applied  to  the  Spirit,  not  that  the 
Spirit  is  applied  to  us, — that  our  souls  must  be 
dipped  in  his  influence,  not  that  his  influence  must 
descend  upon  our  souls.  Did  I  not  know  that  on 
this  point  your  preaching  was  more  sound  than 
your  practice,  and  that  the  orthodoxy  of  the  pulpit 
would  counteract  the  heterodoxy  of  the  baptistery, 
I  should  contemplate  your  immersions  with  serious 
alarm. 

^'  But  permit  me,  in  the  second  place,  to  inquire 
how  you  can  account  for  the  remarkable  disagree- 
ment between  your  mode  of  symbolizing  divine 
influence,  and  that  which  God  had  enjoined  and 
sanctified  under  the  former  dispensation.  As  the 
spiritual  grace  is  the  same  in  all  ages,  it  would  be 
natural  to  expect  that,  if  symbols  were  employed 
at  all,  the  mode  of  their  employment  would  also 
be  the  same.  And  this,  I  believe,  will  be  found 
to  have  been  the  fact.  Now  of  all  the  "  divers 
baptisms  "  administered  under  the  law,  there  was 
not  one  which  resembled  yours.  In  no  single  in- 
stance did  priest  or  Levite  plunge  the  people.  Of 
this  the  evidence  is  complete.  But  sprinkling,  on 
the  contrary,  was  constantly  employed.  If,  then, 
this  mode,  enjoined  by  God  to  represent  the  shed- 


132  CONFESSIONS   OF  A  CONVERT. 

ding  forth  of  his  Spirit,  was  for  ages  deemed  best 
suited  for  this  purpose,  why  should  it  have  been 
superseded  by  another,  certainly  not  more  expres- 
sive, and  as  I  conceive  much  less  so?  Can  you 
discover  any  good  reason  for  such  a  change,  or 
indeed  any  reason  at  all  ?  And  is  there  any  mi- 
thority  for  it  ?  I  can  neither  imagine  the  one, 
nor  discover  the  other.  And,  therefore,  in  the 
absence  of  both,  I  cling  to  the  consecrated  symbol, 
and  would  even  venture  to  offer  the  advice  that, 
in  your  future  discourses  on  baptism,  you  speak 
with  less  dogmatism  and  contempt  concerning  a 
mode  of  baptizing  originally  selected  by  infinite 
wisdom,  and  consecrated  for  ages,  as  the  emblem 
of  the  Spirit's  grace. 

^'  There  is  a  third  question  with  which  I  am 
tempted  to  trouble  you.  It  is  this )  How,  upon 
your  views,  do  you  account  for  the  circumstance 
that,  in  all  the  predictions  and  promises  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  contained  in  the  Old  Testament,  you 
never  meet  with  any  allusion  to  divine  influence 
which  agrees  with  your  favourite  mode  of  repre- 
senting it  ?  Had  God  intended  to  appoint  immer- 
sion as  the  standing  and  only  symbol  of  the  Spirit's 
operation  to  the  end  of  time,  might  we  not  have 
expected  to  find  some  metaphor  or  some  reference 
in  accordance  with  this  practice  ?    But  there  is 


EEASONINOS    AND    REPLIES.  133 

none.  Not  a  line,  not  a  word  occurs  in  psalms  or 
prophecies  which  alludes,  even  in  the  most  remote 
manner,  to  dipping,  plunging,  or  any  such  mode 
of  employing  the  element  which  God  has  conse- 
crated for  the  service  of  his  sanctuary.  But  while 
there  is  not  a  syllable  which  agrees  with  immer- 
sion, there  are  several  very  striking  descriptions 
of  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit  which  allude  to 
the  mode  which  you  reject.  Need  I  remind  you 
of  such  passages  as  the  following  ?  '  Then  will  I 
sprinkle  clean  water  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be 
clean.'  '  So  shall  he  sprhikle  many  nations.'  '  I 
will  pou7'  water  upon  him  that  is  thirsty,  and  floods 
upon  the  dry  ground  :  I  will  j)our  my  Spirit  upon 
thy  seed,  and  my  blessing  upon  thine  offspring.' 
^  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  afterwards  that  I  will 
pmir  out  my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh.'  Now,  how  is 
this  ?  "With  the  importance  which  you  attach  to 
your  mode  of  baptizing,  how  do  you  account  for 
the  very  strange  circumstance  (to  say  the  least  of 
it,)  that  numerous  prophecies  of  the  descent  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  should  exactly  agree  with  affusion, 
but  never  with  immersion  ? 

"  And  between  these  prophetic  representations 

of  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  history  of  their 

accomplishment  in   the  New,   the  accordance  is 

most  exact.     Here  we  read  that  the  Holy  Spirit 

12 


134  CONFESSIONS  OF   A  CONVERT. 

^ came  upon'  those  that  received  him;  that  he 
^fell  upon'  them,  was  '  shed  upon'  them,  and  was 
^poured  upon'  them.  Now,  as  visible  symbols 
and  audible  sounds  are  only  two  forms  of  lan- 
guage— the  one  addressed  to  the  eye,  the  other  to 
the  ear — we  might  therefore  naturally  expect, 
when  both  are  employed  to  represent  one  thing, 
that  some  correspondence  would  be  found  between 
the  mode  of  representation.  And  this  correspond- 
ence exists  between  the  '  divers  baptisms'  of  the 
law  (which  were  principally  sprinklings)  and  the 
manner  in  which  the  prophets  describe  the  divine 
influence,  of  which  these  sprinklings  were  the 
sign.  Why,  then,  should  no  such  agreement 
appear  under  the  gospel  ?  While  the  same  ver- 
hal  form  is  retained,  what  reason  can  be  assigned, 
or  imagined,  why  the  visible  should  be  changed  ? 
Why  should  the  counterpart  of  a  promise  to  p>our 
out  be  found  in  the  very  different  mode  of 
plunging  in?  And  why,  moreover,  should  a 
long  consecrated  symbol  of  the  Spirit's  influence 
be  superseded  by  another,  which  presents  no  ac- 
cordance whatever  with  the  language  either  of  the 
Old  Testament  or  of  the  New  ?  How  is  all  this 
to  be  explained  ? 

"  But  I  must  trouble  you  with  one  question 
more,  and  it  shall  be  the  last.     Without  asking 


REASONINGS  AND   REPLIES.  135 

you  to  account  for  the  singular  circumstance 
(singular,  I  mean,  if  the  word  'baptism'  only 
signifies  immersion)  that,  when  the  Sayiour's 
promise — 'Ye  shall  be  hajytized  with  the  Holy 
Ghost' — was  fulfilled  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  the 
Spii'it  was  '  shed  forth'  upon  them,  I  should  like 
much  to  know  how  it  could  have  happened,  when 
Peter  saw  that  '  the  Holy  Ghost  fell  npo7i'  Corne- 
lius and  his  company,  that  then  '  he  remembered 
the  word  of  the  Lord,  Ye  shall  be  baptized  with 
the  Holy  Ghost  V  Believing,  as  you  do,  that  the 
word  baptize  describes  a  mode  of  applying  the 
body  to  water,  and  that  mode  to  dip,  I  am  sure 
that  anything  which  ^fell '  upon  a  person  would 
never  remind  you  of  a  baptism.  It  would  be  one 
of  the  very  last  things  to  suggest  such  an  idea. 
How,  then,  did  it  happen  that  the  descending 
symbol  of  divine  influence  had  precisely  the  oppo- 
site effect  upon  Peter's  mind  which  it  must  have 
had  upon  yours  ?  Why  did  such  an  action, 
unless  there  was  a  correspondence  between  it  and 
the  usual  mode  of  baptizing,  bring  an  idea  to  the 
apostle's  thoughts  that  no  Immersionist  would 
have  ever  entertained  ?  Surely  he  must  have  had 
very  different  associations  with  the  word  baptism 
from  those  which  your  practice  is  calculated  to 
form.     And   I  see  not  how  to  account  for  this 


136  CONFESSIONS   OF   A  CONVERT. 

difference,  except  upon  the  supposition  that  Peter 
had  been  accustomed  to  administer  the  ordinance 
by  pouring,  whilst  you  deem  dipping  a  more  ex- 
cellent way. 

"But  I  will  now  close  these  remarks.  If  I 
have  spoken  with  honest  freedom,  forgive  me. 
My  object  has  been  to  put  my  points  with  plain- 
ness of  speech,  because  this  letter  is  designed  for 
other  eyes  besides  yours. 

"  Believe  me/'  &c. 


PAKT  IV. 

PROSELYTISM   AND   PERSECUTION. 

One  Sabbath  afternoon,  a  few  days  prior  to  tbe 
appearance  of  the  foregoing  letter,  I  went,  by  in- 
vitation, to  take  tea  at  the  house  of  one  of  the  dea- 
cons of  the  church,  where  I  was  soon  joined  by 
another  gentleman  who  sustained  the  same  of&ce. 
Under  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  I  was 
somewhat  surprised  at  the  apparent  friendliness  of 
this  proceeding,  because  I  was  aware  that  both 
these  gentlemen  were  much  displeased  with  me 
on  account  of  my  recent  conduct.  But  the 
mystery  of  this  unexpected  act  of  courtesy  was 
soon  dispelled;  and  I  discovered  that  the  meeting 
had  been  concerted  with  the  benevolent  design 
of  rescuing  me  from  the  error  into  which  I  had 

fallen. 

It  was,  however,  with  no  small  difficulty  that 

the   brethren   brought   on   the    discussion    upon 

which  they  were  intent;   for  they  were  evidently 

anxious  that  I  should  not  divine  their  purpose, 

12*  (137) 


138  .  CONFESSIONS   OF  A  CONVERT. 

and  I  was  not  a  little  amused  at  their  awkward 
attempts  to  introduce  the  subject.  In  no  respect 
indisposed  to  discuss  the  point  upon  which  they 
apparently  deemed  themselves  invulnerable,  I,  at 
length,  frankly  stated  what  I  supposed  to  be 
their  design,  and  begged  them  to  throw  off  all  re- 
straint in  conveying  to  me  their  opinions.  Upon 
this  one  of  them,  after  expressing  his  high  re- 
spect for  my  parents,  and  the  hope  which  he  had 
entertained  that  I  should  have  trod  in  their 
footsteps,  added,  ^'  But  I  am  exceedingly  sorry, 
my  dear  young  friend,  to  find  that  you  hesitate 
to  take  up  the  cross  and  follow  Christ.^'  Had  I 
not  been  familiar  with  the  phraseology  in  current 
use  amongst  the  Baptists,  I  might  have  mistaken 
this  for  a  lamentation  over  my  religious  indeci- 
sion, and  should  never  have  conceived  that  it 
merely  referred  to  doubts  on  the  subject  of  im- 
mersion. But  I  had  been  initiated  into  these 
mysteries  long  enough  to  know  the  sense  in 
which  these  terms  were  employed,  and,  in 
consequence,  was  scarcely  surprised  at  the  arro- 
gant assumptions  which  they  involved,  I  there- 
fore replied  by  simply  saying  that,  in  declining 
immersion,  I  was  quite  unconscious  of  having 
disregarded  either  the  precept  or  example  of  the 
Saviour. 


PROSELTTISM  AND  PERSECUTION.     139 

I  was  proceeding  to  advance  more  in  self-defence, 
but  mj  lecturer  interrupted  me  with  the  question, 
"  What !  did  not  Jesus  Christ  saj— '  Thus  it  be- 
cometh  us  to  fulfil  all  righteousness  ?'  ^'  and  then 
added,  in  a  style  meant  to  be  singularly  solemn, 
but  with  intonation  and  emphasis  quite  original, 
the  following  lines  from  Rippon's  Hymns  : — 

"  Hear  the  blest  Redeemer  call  you, 

Listen  to  his  gracious  voice  ; 
Dread  no  ills  that  can  befall  you, 

While  you  make  7ds  ways  your  choice. 
Jesus  says,  '  Let  each  believer 

Be  baptized  in  my  name ;' 
He  himself  tn  Jordan's  river 

Was  immersed  beneath  the  stream." 

The  good  man's  elocution,  the  tone  of  satisfaction 
with  which  he  recited  the  last  two  lines,  and  the 
expression  of  the  mingled  complacency  with  him- 
self and  compassion  for  me  with  which  he  fixed 
his  eyes  upon  mine,  as  I  sat  gazing  at  him  with 
mute  surprise,  overcame  me  ]  and  a  propensity,  for 
the  indulgence  of  which  (though  prevention  was 
often  impossible)  I  had  been  repeatedly  punished 
at  school,  proved  irresistible,  and  I  so  far  lost  the 
power  of  self-control  that,  in  spite  of  every  efibrt, 


140  CONFESSIONS   OP   A   CONVERT. 

I  burst  into  a  loud  laugli.  It  was  a  sad  slip.  I 
saw  instantly  that  it  had  exposed  me  to  just  cen- 
sure,  and  my  character  to  much  misconstruction. 
This  soon  repressed  my  risibility,  which  otherwise 
would  have  been  only  increased  by  the  severe 
frown  with  which  it  was  met,  and  the  sad  lamen- 
tations over  my  levity.  Having  endeavoured,  as 
well  as  I  could,  to  convince  the  good  man  that  it 
was  far  from  my  intention  to  treat  either  him  or 
his  opinions  with  disrespect,  I  recurred  to  his  quo- 
tation, expressed  my  desire  to  do  whatever  the 
Saviour  had  enjoined,  and  requested  him  to  fur- 
nish me  with  a  proof  of  the  assertion  that  he  ^'  was 
immersed  beneath  the  stream." 

My  demand  was  readily  met  in  the  usual  way. 
Without  a  moment's  hesitation  he  quoted  Mark  i. 
9,  where  it  is  said  that  Jesus  "  was  baptized  of 
John  in  Jordan."  The  emphatic  manner  in  which 
he  pronounced  the  preposition  ''  in"  created  the 
suspicion  that  he  understood  it  to  mean  "under;" 
and  I  therefore  asked  him  whether  he  considered 
the  words  "  in  Jordan"  to  mean  that  our  Lord  was 
plunged  below  the  surface  of  that  river,  or,  accord- 
ing to  the  language  of  the  hymn,  that  he  ''  was 
immersed  beneath  the  stream  ?"  Having  answered 
in  the  affirmative,  I  requested  him  to  turn  to  the 
fourth  verse  of  the  same  chapter,  where  it  is  said 


PROSELYTISM  AND  PERSECUTION.    141 

that  "  John  did  baptize  in  the  wilderness ;"  and  I 
then  inquired  whether  he  did  not  believe  that  the 
word  ''  iu"  must  have  the   same   signification  in 
both  passages.     Upon  this  he  began  carefully  to 
con  over  and  collate  the  two  verses,  and  kept  me 
waiting  some  time  for  his  reply ;  and,  as  if  he  felt 
a  vague  premonition  of  the  consequence  of  answer- 
ing my  question  in  the  affirmative,  he  expressed  his 
desire  to  know  why  I  had  put  it  to  him,  and  said 
"  he  could  not  exactly  see  what  the  wilderness  had 
to  do  with  the  subject."     As,  however,  I  would 
neither  satisfy  his  curiosity,  nor  withdraw  my  de- 
mand, he  at  length  admitted,  though  with  evident 
reluctance,  that  "he  supposed  it  might  be  so.'' 
"  Well  then,''  I  added,  "  you  must  be  aware  that 
the  wilderness  of  Judea  was  about  as  full  of  sand 
as  the  channels  of  the  Jordan  were  full  of  water. 
If,  therefore,  the  words  '■  baptized  in  Jordan'  mean, 
as  you  suppose,  ^  being  immersed  under  the  water 
of  that  river,'  must  not  the  similar  expression, 
^  did  baptize  in  the  wilderness,'  mean  '•  being  im- 
mersed under  its  sand?'     Besides,"  I  added,  ''  in 
a  text  to  which  Baptists  are  particularly  partial, 
it  is  said  that  ^John  was  baptizing  in  ^^non;' 
which  you  are  aware  was  not  a  river,  but  a  place. 
Now  you  do  not,  I  presume,  believe  that  he  im- 
mersed his  followers  U7ider  Mno^ :  and  yet  you 


142  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

have  precisely  the  same  reason  for  believing  this 
that  you  have  for  thinking  that  they  were  im- 
mersed under  Jordan." 

The  good  man  sat  staring,  and,  as  I  thought, 
startled  at  the  discovery  which  I  had  made  to  him ; 
but  instead  of  attempting  to  strengthen  his  posi- 
tion, or  extricate  himself  from  the  difficulty  into 
which  his  bold  assertion  had  brought  him,  he 
began  to  expatiate  upon  the  qualities  of  the  tea, 
and  to  apologize  for  taking  an  extra  cup.  This 
parenthesis  having  been  filled  up,  I  again  requested 
his  attention  to  the  point  which  I  had  presented, 
when  he  said,  ^^  But  if  the  words  ^  in  Jordan'  do 
not  mean  to  be  immersed,  tell  me  what  can  they 
mean  V  "  That,"  I  replied,  "  is  not  my  business ; 
but  yet  I  have  no  objection  to  comply  with  your 
request.  In  the  first  place,  then,  for  the  reason 
which  I  have  stated,  it  is  very  certain,  whatever 
else  they  may  signify,  that  the  expressions  cannot 
bear  the  sense  which  you  put  upon  them.  This, 
undoubtedly,  is  not  the  idea  which  they  naturally 
suggest ;  it  never  entered  into  any  head  but  that 
of  a  Baptist,  and  can  only  be  received  by  giving 
to  the  word  '  in'  a  meaning  which  would,  were  the 
same  signification  retained  in  several  other  passa- 
ges, render  them  sheer  nonsense.  But,"  I  added, 
"  there  is  no  difficulty  in  answering  your  question. 


PROSELYTISM   AND   PERSECUTION.  143 

Baptists,  in  common  with  others,  understand  the 
words  ^  in  the  wilderness/  '  in  ^non/  and  ^  in 
Bethabara/  to  mean  ^  at^  those  places  ]  and  why 
should  not  the  passage  ^  in  Jordan'  have  a  similar 
signification  ?  Why,  instead  of  bearing  its  usual 
import,  when  it  occurs  before  the  name  of  a  place, 
should  the  word  '  in'  here,  and  here  only,  be  ren- 
dered ^  into'  or  ^  under  V  Do  show  me  the  reason 
of  this  strange  difference,  and  explain  why  the  two 
passages  might  not  change  places,  and  be  as  fairly 
rendered  ^  at  Jordan,'  and  '  under  ^non,'  as  •  at 
JEnon,'  and  ^  under  Jordan  ?'  " 

Upon  this  a  short  pause  ensued ;  and  then  the 
other  deacon  (in  order,  as  I  thought,  to  raise  the 
siege,  with  which  his  brother  was  sorely  oppressed) 
demanded  of  me  how  John  administered  the  rite, 
if  it  was  not  by  immersion.  I  replied,  ^^  that  this 
was  a  point  upon  which  no  one  could  speak  with 
confidence,  because  the  inspired  writers  themselves 
had  attached  so  little  importance  to  the  mode  of 
baptism,  that  they  had  not  penned  a  single  syllable 
on  the  subject.  We  were,  therefore,"  I  added, 
"  left  entirely  to  inference ;"  and  I  then  proceeded 
to  state  my  reasons  for  this  belief,  that  either 
pouring  or  sprinkling  must  have  been  generally 
employed  in  the  service.  As,  however,  most  of 
these  have  already  appeared  in  the  preceding 
pages,  I  will  not  repeat  them  here. 


144  CONFESSIONS   OF  A  CONVERT. 

Although  closely  engaged  with  the  two  breth- 
ren, I  did  not  fail  to  remark  that  the  servant,  who 
had  passed  round  the  tea,  and  who  was  a  member 
of  a  Wesleyan  Society  in  the  town,  was  very 
deeply  interested  in  the  conversation ;  and  that  at 
the  close  of  the  refreshment  she  made  much  unne- 
cessary work  for  herself,  and,  without  appearing 
to  listen,  was  evidently  lingering  in  the  room  for 
that  purpose.  I  learned  afterwards  that  the  poor 
girl  had  been  beset  by  master,  mistress,  and  minis- 
ter ;  and,  but  for  the  well-directed  instructions  of 
her  class-leader,  would  in  all  probability  have  been 
beguiled,  as  many  uninformed  young  women  had 
been  before  her,  by  strong  assertions,  and  two  or 
three  worthless  plausibilities,  to  renounce  her  early 
dedication  to  God,  and,  without  the  slighest  war- 
rant to  be  re-baptized. 

Shortly  after  this  interview  my  letter  appeared, 
and  created  no  small  stir  in  our  congregation. 
Moreover,  I  soon  discovered  that  I  had  incurred 
the  displeasure  of  many  of  them.  Some,  with 
whom  I  had  been  acquainted  from  my  childhood, 
became  cool  and  distant.  Others,  who  wished  to 
keep  up  the  appearance  of  friendship,  could  with 
difficulty  disguise  their  dislike,  A  few,  with  more 
courage,  ventured  in  different  ways  to  set  before 
me  the  evil  of  my  doings.      One  old  gentleman 


PROSELYTISM  AND  PERSECUTION.    145 

turned  up  his  eyes,  and  shook  his  head,  at  what 
he  termed  "  the  forwardness  and  presumption  of 
so  young  a  man"  as  myself,  in  writing  as  I  had 
done  to  an  experienced  minister  like  Mr.  R. 
Another  was  quite  shocked  at  the  '^  impiety'^  with 
which  I  had  attacked  what,  with  an  air  of  infalli- 
bility, he  assumed  to  be  an  ordinance  of  God.  By 
some,  it  was  whispered  that  I  had  been  influenced 
by  sinister  motives ;  and  a  brother  of  our  pastor 
boldly  avowed  his  belief  that  I  had  been  drawn 
into  the  snare  of  the  devil,  and  had  reason  to  dread 
the  judgment  which  befell  Elymas  for  perverting 
the  right  ways  of  the  Lord.  Some  of  the  softer 
sex,  with  whom,  in  general,  I  had  been  rather  a 
favourite,  became  all  at  once  intensely  bitter  in 
their  feelings  against  me,  and  very  strong  in  their 
denunciations.  Two  of  these  even  volunteered  a 
visit  of  condolence  to  my  mother,  whose  sorrow 
in  having  such  a  son  they  supposed  must  have 
been  most  severe. 

There  was  one  of  our  members  who  deemed 
himself  a  very  "  mighty  man"  in  this  controversy, 
because  he  had  published  a  small  tract  of  quota- 
tions from  Paedo-baptist  writers  copied  from  Booth, 
which  were  thought  to  countenance  immersion, — 
a  common  but  most  contemptible  mode  of  attack, 

especially  in  Baptists,  who  profess  to  repudiate 
13 


146  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

human  authority^  and  to  draw  their  arguments 
solely  from  Scripture.  This  champion  of  the 
cause  had  made  no  secret  of  his  intention  to  take 
me  to  task,  as  he  phrased  it ;  and  I  was  accord- 
ingly forewarned  of  the  danger  to  which  I  stood 
exposed. 

I  was  not  surprised,  therefore,  when,  one  after- 
noon, he  presented  himself  at  our  counting-house ; 
though,  I  confess,  it  was  just  then  with  considera- 
ble reluctance  that  I  laid  aside  some  intricate  ac- 
counts which  I  was  endeavouring  to  balance,  and 
entered  the  polemical  arena  with  this  new  combat- 
ant. He  did  not,  however,  give  me  any  chance 
of  evading  the  subject ;  but  began  almost  imme- 
diately to  utter  his  surprise  and  regret  that  I 
should  have  forsaken  ''  the  old  paths,' ^  in  which 
my  excellent  father  had  so  steadily  walked.  Hav- 
ing assured  him  that  what  I  had  done  was  the 
result  of  anxious  thought  and  much  prayer,  he 
expressed  his  conviction  that  I  was  deluding  my- 
self, and  wondered  that  I  should  have  '■'■  set  up '' 
my  judgment  against  such  men  as  Baxter,  Burkitt, 
and  some  others  whom  he  named.  I  replied  that, 
instead  of  setting  up  my  judgment,  I  had  endea- 
voured to  lay  it  down,  and  learn  at  the  feet  of  Je- 
sus what  he  would  have  me  do.  "  But  have  you 
read  my  ^  Cloud  of  Witnesses  V  ''  he  hurriedly  in- 


PROSELYTISM   AND   PERSECUTION.  147 

quired.  "  I  have,  sir."  "  Well,  and  did  not  that 
satisfy  you  ?"  '^  Yes,  sir,  it  did  most  perfectly  on 
one  point."  "  Ah  I  I  am  glad  to  hear  that — very 
glad.  I  thought  a  young  man  of  your  intelligence 
would  be  convinced  by  names  of  such  weight.  I 
rejoice  in  it,  my  dear  sir;  I  do,  indeed.  Still,  it 
is  no  more  than  I  might  have  expected  from  you ; 
and  I  am  thankful  that  any  humble  performance  of 
mine  should  have  yielded  satisfaction  to  a  doubting 
but  upright  mind  like  yours." 

How  long  the  loquacious  tractarian  would  have 
gone  on  in  this  self-complacent  strain,  had  I  per- 
mitted him  to  proceed,  I  cannot  tell ;  but  I  was 
compelled  to  interrupt  his  congratulations,  by  in- 
forming him  that  the  one  thing  of  which  his  pro- 
duction had  so  thoroughly  satisfied  me  was,  not 
the  authority  of  immersion,  but  the  miserable  and 
pitiable  weakness  of  a  cause  which  was  driven  from 
the  fair  field  of  Scripture  argument  to  hunt  through 
the  volumes  of  Pagdo-baptists,  and  to  tear  out  of 
their  connection  shreds  of  sentences  and  scraps  of 
passages,  in  which,  contrary  to  their  general  sen- 
timent and  practice,  a  few  of  them  had  dropped 
some  careless  statement  or  candid  concession, 
which  the  unscrupulous  controversialist  eagerly 
seized  upon,  and  then  strove  to  pervert  into  a  kind 
of  sanction  to  his  peculiarities.     '^Yes,  sir/^  I 


148  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

added,  ^^I  am  satisfied  that  the  stolen  support 
thus  brought  to  prop  up  a  fabric  of  error,  which 
cannot  sustain  itself,  will  only  accelerate  its  fall. 
Such  aid,  the  cause  of  truth  can  never  require  nor 
receive.  But,'^  I  continued,  ^'  have  you  consid- 
ered the  consequence  of  your  method  of  maintain- 
ing immersion  ?  You  know  that  the  eminent  men 
whose  names  you  have  arrayed  against  their  own 
practice  and  principles  condemned  the  very  course 
which  your  denomination  has  chosen,  and  them- 
selves pursued  the  ojyposite.  If,  then,  you  attach 
so  much  weight  to  their  authority  when  it  seems 
to  be  for  you,  you  dare  not  disregard  it  when  it  is 
strongly  against  you ;  and  if  a  few  single  sentences 
apparently  favourable  to  immersion  are  deemed  so 
decisive,  how  can  you  reject  the  volumes  and  treat- 
ises directly  against  it,  which  so  many  of  them  have 
written  ?  Beware  !"  I  said ;  "  you  are  brandishing 
a  two-edged  sword.  You  are  bringing  witnesses 
into  court  who  will  certainly  put  you  out  of  it. 
You  are  receiving  the  testimony  of  men  who, 
with  one  voice,  reject  your  reasonings  and  renounce 
your  practice.  But  yet  I  am  not  surprised  that 
the  advocates  of  immersion  should  seize  upon 
every  scrap  of  evidence  which  may  come  to  hand, 
and  make  so  much  of  the  little  which  they  can  find 
in  the  writings  of  wise  and  learned  men  to  get  the 


PROSELYTISM  AND  PERSECUTION.    149 

sliglitest  countenance  to  their  proceedings.  It 
must  be,  I  am  aware,  both  a  humiliation  and  a 
mortification  for  a  Baptist  to  cast  his  eye  over  the 
shelves  of  a  large  theological  library,  and  to  find 
there  scarcely  a  writer  of  any  note  or  weight  who 
has  belonged  to  his  denomination.  With  a  few 
noble  exceptions,  the  whole  array  of  divines  is 
against  them.  Where  there  is  one  eminent  Bap- 
tist writer,  there  will  be  found  a  hundred  on  the 
opposite  side.  It  is  not  wonderful,  therefore,  that 
your  defenders  should  eagerly  rake  over  the  folios 
and  fragments  of  fathers,  reformers,  prelates,  pu- 
ritans, and  non-conformists,  in  search  of  shreds  and 
patches,  torn  from  the  consistent  texture  with 
which  they  were  originally  interwoven,  in  order  to 
form  what,  after  all,  is  but  a  scanty  and  ill-assorted 
coverlid  for  the  bare  system  they  were  anxious  to 
protect.  But  having  obtained  such  small  assist- 
ance to  their  cause,  they  would  be  wiser  were  they 
not  to  expose  both  its  weakness  and  their  own,  by 
holding  up,  as  they  do,  their  ill-gotten  gain  to 
public  gaze,  and  allowing  all  around  them  to  see 
that  it  is  miserably  flimsy,  and  utterly  worth- 
less.'^ 

I  perceived  that  I  had  touched  my  visitor  upon 
a  tender  place,  and  that  he  began  to  feel  some 
jealousy  for  his  own  reputation  as  an  author; 
13* 


150      CONFESSIONS  OP  A  CONVERT. 

I   therefore   checked  myself,    and   changed    the 
topic. 

Our  conversation,  however,  had  not  flowed  in 
the  new  channel  long  before  he  suddenly  inter- 
rupted it,  by  stating  that  he  wished  to  say  a 
word  to  me  about  what  I  had  written  to  Mr.  R. 
Having  expressed  my  readiness  to  hear  his  re- 
marks, he  proceeded  to  express  his  disapproba- 
tion of  the  course  which  I  had  selected,  and  was 
especially  dissatisfied  at  my  endeavouring  to  circu- 
late my  letter  amongst  the  congregation.  "If 
your  own  mind,"  he  said,  "  had  been  made  up  on 
the  subject,  why  should  you  try  to  unsettle 
others  ?  What  good  can  it  do  ?  I  know  several 
young  persons  who  were  quite  decided  upon  the 
point,  and  would  soon  have  been  baptized,  but 
who  have  been  much  disturbed  by  what  you  have 
written;  and  some  of  them,  I  am  told,  already 
begin  to  raise  objections  against  Grod's  ordinance. 
I  consider  it  wrong,  sir,"  he  added,  with  much 
energy,  "  very  wrong  indeed,  to  draw  away  the 
thoughts  of  serious  inquirers  from  the  path  of 
duty." 

Although  I  could  with  difficulty  conceal  the  satis- 
faction with  which  I  heard  this  piece  of  intelligence, 
other  emotions  were  still  stronger,  and  I  was  un- 
able to  resist  the  temptation  to  reply  with  more 


PROSELYTISM  AND  PERSECUTION.    151 

warmth  and  asperity,  perhaps,  than  became  me. 
^'  With  regard  to  myself,"  I  said,  ''  I  am  quite 
prepared  to  hear  my  motives  misrepresented,  and 
my  conduct  maligned,  for  having  written  to  Mr. 
R.,  just  as  they  were  for  taking  the  course  which 
rendered  that  letter  necessary.  On  this  point  I 
feel  no  concern,  and  shall  offer  no  vindication. 
But  how  astonished  I  am,  Mr.  I.,  to  hear  i/ou 
condemn  me  for  calling  the  attention  of  others  to 
the  subject  of  baptism,  when  your  minister  and 
most  of  the  members  of  the  church  (yourself  in- 
cluded) are  continually  doing  the  same  thing. 
You  know  well  enough  that  no  sooner  do  young 
persons  in  our  congregation  evince  any  serious- 
ness, and  seem  to  be  inquiring  after  salvation, 
than  they  are  assailed  on  the  subject  of  immer- 
sion, supplied  with  numerous  tracts  in  support  of 
the  practice,  and  allowed  no  rest  until  they  are 
under  the  water.  Yes  !  and  you  know  even  more 
than  this.  You  are  well  aware  that  some  of  our 
zealots  for  dipping  do  not  confine  their  efforts  to 
those  who  worship  with  them,  but  move  heaven 
and  earth  to  proselyte  from  other  Christian  bodies 
in  the  town.^^  I  then  named  two  or  three  in- 
stances of  this ;  and  added,  "  It  is  notorious  that 
complaints  have  been  repeatedly  made  by  other 
pastors  in  the  place  of  the  efforts  which  persons  in 


152  CONFESSIONS   OF  A  CONVERT. 

our  congregation  have  put  forth  to  draw  from 
under  their  ministry  young  disciples  whom  they 
had  been  instrumental  in  bringing  to  the  Saviour. 
Instead  of  seeking  their  society  with  a  view  to 
confirm  their  hearts  in  faith^  and  hope^  and  holi- 
ness, undue  advantage  has  been  taken  of  their  in- 
experience to  induce  them  to  be  immersed.  In- 
stead of  directing  the  eye  of  the  half-awakened 
sinner  upwards  to  the  cross,  it  is  pointed  down- 
wards to  the  baptistery.  Instead  of  fostering  in 
such  the  conviction  of  sin,  and  confining  their 
view  to  the  Saviour,  their  serious  thoughts  have 
been  diverted,  and  their  early  impressions  dissi- 
pated by  these  proselyting  efi"orts.  Had  immer- 
sion been  the  sacrament  of  salvation,  it  could  not 
have  been  thrust  into  greater  prominence,  nor 
propagated  with  more  zeal  than  it  is  by  some  in- 
dividuals whom  we  both  well  know.  Nor  are 
these  parties  exceptions  to  the  general  spirit  and 
proceedings  of  your  own  denomination.  In  making 
immersion  a  term  of  Christian  profession,  and  in 
many  cases  of  communion,  the  Baptists  invert 
the  order  of  things  established  by  the  Saviour, 
fix  the  pyramid  upon  its  point,  and  cherish 
habits  of  thought  and  feeling  which  dry  up  the 
sources  of  charity,  and  prevent  the  development 
of  that   magnanimity  which   pure  religion   pro- 


PROSELYTISM  AND  PERSECUTION.    153 

duces.     And  it  is  notorious  that,  of  all  Chris- 
tian   sects,   the    Baptists   are    the   most    prose- 
lyting.    How  strange,   then— how  marvellous- 
familiar   as  you   are  with   such   facts   as   these, 
that   you   should    censure    me   for   doing    what 
your  own  people  are  so  often  chargeable  with  ! 
But  I  thoroughly  understand  all  this  !     To  assail 
the  faith  of  a  Psedo-baptist  is  perfectly  right;  but 
to  inject  a  doubt  into  the  mind  of  a  Baptist  is  ex- 
tremely shocking !     Try  might  and  main  to  con- 
vert the  one  to  immersion,— this  is  laudable ;  but 
touch  the  prejudices  of  the  other,  and,  if  you  do 
not  wish  to  be  covered  with  hornets,  and  stung 
till  you  are  frantic — flee  !" 

At   first  my  worthy  visitor   demurred   to   my 

charges;  but  he  soon  deserted  that   ground,  as 

if  convinced  that  it  was  untenable,  and  said  that 

Christians   ought   to   contend   earnestly   for   the 

faith   once    delivered    to    the   saints,    and    that 

"they   should   not   suffer   a   single  pm   of    the 

tabernacle  to  be  removed  from  its  place."     He 

then   declared    that   his   main   objection   to   my 

letter  was   its  spirit;    and   I   requested   him   to 

name   those   parts  which   he    deemed  improper. 

This  he  declined;  and  doubtful,  from  the  manner 

in  which  he  did  so,  whether  he  had  seen  what 

he  censured,  I  pointedly  put  the  question,  and 


154  CONFESSIONS   OF  A   CONVERT. 

had  mj  suspicion  confirmed.  Having  expressed 
my  surprise  that  he  should  condemn  what  he 
had  never  heard,  he  admitted  that  he  had  re- 
lied upon  the  representations  of  others;  and 
further,  as  he  was  the  father  of  a  family,  that 
he  had  determined  that  what  he  understood  was 
a  very  dangerous  production  should  not  enter  his 
house. 

Just  as  he  made  this  avowal,  the  thought  oc- 
curred to  me  that,  although  I  had  seen  in  many 
of  our  friends'  dwellings  controversial  pieces  in 
favour  of  adult  immersion,  I  had  never  noticed  a 
single  work  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  question. 
I  said,  therefore,  that  I  supposed  I  had  no  greater 
cause  for  complaint  than  others  who  had  written 
in  support  of  the  same  opinion,  and  whose  produc- 
tions, I  doubted  not,  had  been  just  as  carefully 
withheld  from  his  children.  And  I  then  inquired 
whether  he  himself  had  ever  read  a  single  defence 
of  what  he  contemptuously  termed  "  infant  sprink- 
ling j"  and  requested  him,  if  he  had,  to  name  it. 
He  professed  that  he  had  seen  a  good  deal  of  what 
Psedo-baptists  had  to  say  for  their  practice ;  but 
he  could  not  just  then  recollect  the  title  or  author 
of  any  particular  volume  of  theirs  which  he  had 
ever  perused,  and  acknowledged  that  he  had  no 
euch  book  in  his  possession.     Other  questions  eli- 


PROSELYTISM  AND  PERSECUTION.    155 

cited  tlie  fact,  of  which  my  previous  suspicion  was 
stroDg,  that  his  acquaintance  with  Paedo-baptist 
publications  was  confined  to  the  disjointed  frag- 
ments and  garbled  extracts  which  he  had  met  with 
in  Baptist  books  and  magazines.  Similar  cases,  I 
well  knew,  were  very  common.  Many  strenuous 
sticklers  for  immersion,  and  some  who  were  accus- 
tomed to  denounce  in  strong  language  a  diiferent 
practice,  would,  I  was  satisfied,  be  found  as  igno- 
rant as  this  individual.  And  I  thought  then,  and 
think  still,  that  even  authors  might  be  named  who 
could  not  possibly  have  read  the  writings  to  which 
they  professed  to  reply. 

Not  long  after  the  conversation  just  described, 
Mr.  B.  called  at  my  father's  house,  and  solicited 
a  private  interview.  Supposing  that  he  had  come 
to  controvert  my  opinions,  and  having  an  indefina- 
ble sort  of  reverence  for  his  person  and  office, 
which  I  had  retained  from  my  childhood,  I  rather 
shrunk  from  the  interview ;  and  should  have  felt 
far  less  restraint  in  discussing  the  baptismal  ques- 
tion with  many  men  of  much  greater  skill.  But 
he  soon  removed  my  nervousness,  by  stating  that 
he  simply  wished  to  see  me  in  reference  to  the 
Sabbath-school.  And  then,  aft^r  some  rather  mys- 
terious generalities  about  the  importance  of  my 
position  as  its  superintendent,  and  the  necessity 


156  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

of  good  fellowship  between  the  teachers  and  my- 
self, he  inquired  whether^  with  my  altered  views 
on  the  subject  of  baptism,  I  did  not  deem  it  my 
duty  to  resign  that  office.  As,  in  my  great  sim- 
plicityj  I  had  never  imagined  that  a  difference  of 
opinion  on  a  mere  form  would  disqualify  me  for 
the  management  of  an  institution  designed,  as  1 
supposed,  to  teach,  not  sectarian  rites,  but  spiritual 
religion,  I  was  confounded  by  the  suggestion ;  and, 
for  a  minute  I  felt  as  if  I  had  been  stunned.  Ob- 
serving my  astonishment,  Mr.  B.  entreated  me  not 
to  understand  his  question  to  imply  the  slightest 
dissatisfaction  with  the  manner  in  which  I  had 
discharged  the  duties  of  my  office.  On  the  con- 
trary, he  commended,  in  no  measured  terms,  the 
order  and  efficiency  which  had  resulted  from  my 
effijrts,  and  acknowledged  that  the  institution  had 
never  prospered  so  much  as  since  I  undertook  its 
superintendence;  but,  he  added,  he  now  feared 
that  ^^  the  unhappy  change'^  in  my  sentiments 
would  prevent  in  future  that  harmony  which  had 
existed  hitherto  between  the  teachers  and  myself. 
On  this  account  alone,  he  assured  me  that  some 
friends  had  suggested  the  propriety  of  my  with- 
drawment,  and  that  he  agreed  with  their  opinion. 
Had  I  yielded  to  the  indignant  feelings  which 
this  communication  excited,  I  should  have  strongly 


PROSELYTISM  AND  PERSECUTION.    157 

expressed  the  shame  and  sorrow  with  which  I  re- 
garded such  a  display  of  bigotry  and  ingratitude, 
and  should  instantly  have  resigned  my  office.    For 
more  than  four  years  I  had  devoted  my  best  ener- 
gies, both  on  the  Sabbath  and  during  the  week, 
to  the  business  of  the  school.     I  had  watched  over 
its  proceedings  with  the  deepest  interest,  and  with 
untiring  diligence.     And  I  had  seen  it  rise  from 
a  state  bordering  upon  extinction  to  such  pros- 
perity that  we  numbered  more  children  than  any 
similar  institution  in  the  town.     With  the  excep- 
tion of  two  elderly  men,  who  had  been  in  office 
prior  to  myself,  and  who  were,  therefore,  opposed 
to  all  new  measures,  I  had,  as  I  believed,  secured 
the  confidence  and  esteem  of  the  teachers ;  several 
of  whom,  and  these  the  most  intelligent  and  effi- 
cient amongst  us,  had  been  enlisted  by  my  per- 
suasions.    Indeed,  so  little  reason  had  I  for  sup- 
posing that  I  was  regarded  with  an  unkind  feeling, 
that,  only  a  few  months  prior  to  the  occurrences 
which  have  been  narrated,  they  had  a  tea-meeting, 
at  which  Mr.  B.  presided,  for  the  purpose  of  pre- 
senting me  with  a  splendidly-bound  copy  of  Cal- 
met's  Dictionary,  as  a  testimonial  of  their  regard. 
Strongly,  however,  as   my  feelings    had   been 
aroused  by  Mr.  B.'s  proposal,  I  was  happily  ena- 
bled to  control  them.   I,  therefore,  simply  expressed 
U 


158  CONFESSIONS   OF   A  CONVERT. 

my  surprise  that,  on  so  slight  a  ground,  and  in  so 
short  a  time,  the  views  which  he  and  others  had 
formed  of  my  fitness  should  have  undergone  so 
great  a  change ;  but  I  promised  to  give  his  sug- 
gestion my  best  consideration.  Upon  this  he  arose 
to  depart  3  but,  before  he  left  the  room,  my 
thoughts  glanced  over  the  teachers  of  the  school, 
and,  as  the  names  of  one  and  another  occurred  to 
me,  between  whom  and  myself  there  had  existed 
the  most  cordial  regard,  I  could  not  resist  the 
conviction  that  they  were  not  parties  to  this  petty 
persecution.  I  therefore  asked  Mr.  B.  whether  a 
meeting  had  been  held  on  the  subject ;  and 
being  answered  in  the  negative,  I  inquired  how  he 
had  ascertained  their  sentiments.  These  inter- 
rogatories elicited  the  fact,  that  the  proposition 
submitted  to  me  had  originated  with  four  or  five 
individuals,  who  were  church  members,  and  very 
rigid  immersionists ;  and  that  this  cabal  had  con- 
trived to  keep  their  fellow  teachers  in  profound 
ignorance  of  their  proceedings.  I  also  suspected, 
what  was  subsequently  confirmed,  that  the  disunion 
which  they  feared  was  that  which  was  expected 
to  result  from  the  influence  of  my  opinions  and 
proceedings  upon  others.  I  therefore  told  Mr.  B. 
that  as  I  had  received  office  from  the  teachers,  I 
would  call  them  together  at  the  earliest  oppor- 


PROSELYTISM  AND  PERSECUTION.    159 

tunity,  lay  his  suggestions  before  them,  and  act 
in  accordance  with  their  wishes. 

This  proposal  was  so  reasonable,  and  yet  so 
perilous,  that  it  fairly  nonplused  my  good  pastor ; 
and,  after  a  pause,  he  said  that  he  would  have 
some  further  communication  with  friends  on  the 
point,  and  hoped  that,  meanwhile,  I  would  not  call 
a  teachers'  meeting,  nor  name  to  any  one  the  sub- 
ject of  our  interview. 

It  would  not  interest  the  reader,  were  I  to  detail 
the  numerous  schemes  and  unworthy  proceedings 
with  which  the  narrow-minded  men,  whose  plans 
had  been  frustrated  by  my  proposal  to  Mr.  B., 
endeavoured  to  drive  me  from  my  post.  Making 
up  by  diligence  what  they  lacked  in  ability,  I  was 
at  length  so  impeded  and  annoyed  that  I  deemed 
it  my  duty  to  withdraw  from  the  school ;  and  what 
increased  the  pain  of  relinquishing  engagements 
in  which  I  had  long  taken  great  delight  was  the 
circumstance  that,  contrary  to  my  earnest  desire, 
several  of  the  teachers  would  follow  my  example. 

This,  however,  was  not  the  only  annoyance  to 
which  I  was  exposed.  Few  days  passed  for  two 
or  three  weeks  in  which  I  did  not  receive  one  or 
more  anonymous  letters, — most  of  them  bitter  and 
badly  written,  and,  without  one  exception,  convey- 
ing rather  the  spleen  than  the  sentiments  of  their 


160  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

writers.  The  bulk  of  these  I  destroyed  at  the 
time ;  but  there  were  two  or  three  which  I  con- 
sidered worth  preservatioUj  and  these,  although  I 
little  imagined  then  that  such  a  destiny  awaited 
them,  shall  now  be  presented  to  the  public. 

The  first  of  these  communications  was  the  pro- 
duction of  a  very  pragmatical  pedagogue  in  our 
neighbourhood,  who  preached  in  a  village  a  few 
miles  from  us,  to  a  congregation  consisting  chiefly 
of  his  own  pupils,  and  who  had  occasionally  occu- 
pied Mr.  B.'s  pulpit.  He  was,  however,  by  no 
means  popular ;  and  his  magniloquence,  though  at 
first  it  astounded  a  few,  at  length  disgusted  all. 
To  some  it  may  seem  incredible  that  a  man  could 
have  written  anything  so  absurd  as  the  subjoined 
epistle ;  but  had  they  known  the  writer,  or  had 
they  been  but  ten  minutes  in  his  company,  all 
doubts  upon  this  head  would  instantly  vanish. 
The  question  of  authorship,  however,  was  not  de- 
termined merely  from  internal  evidence ;  but  the 
sapient  scribe  was  so  well  satisfied  with  his  pro- 
duction, and  so  assured  that  it  had  settled  and 
silenced  me  for  ever,  that,  from  sheer  vanity,  he 
could  not  keep  his  own  secret. 

^^  Sir, — I  have  read  your  conceited  and  imper- 
tinent letter  to  Mr.  R ;  and  I  would  not  have 


PROSELYTISM  AND  PERSECUTION.    161 

worn  out  the  knib  of  a  single  goose-quill  in  ex- 
posing your  folly,  but  that  such  stupidity  as  yours 
deserves  the  sharpest  strokes  of  the  ferule  of 
truth.  I  am  only  sorry  that  I  cannot  make  you 
stand  upon  the  dunce's  form,  with  a  fool's  cap 
upon  your  empty  skull. 

"  I  should  think  it  beneath  me  to  answer  your 
letter  :  it  would  be  quite  a  degradation ;  indeed,  I 
have  too  much  self-respect.  Besides,  it  would  only 
puff  you  up  with  more  of  that  vanity  which  already 
makes  you,  in  your  own  conceit,  as  big  as  a  bal- 
loon, and  as  empty.  You  ought,  sir,  to  be  made 
to  write  the  copy  '  Amend  your  manners,'  until 
you  cried  Peccavi. 

'^  You  talk  a  great  deal  about  John  the  Baptist 
and  the  apostles.  Now,  I  should  like  to  be  in- 
formed what  you  can  know  of  the  capability  of 
these  mighty  men  of  God.  To  say  that  John 
could  only  immerse  so  many  in  a  day,  and  that 
the  apostles,  at  Pentecost,  found  any  difficulty  in 
getting  water,  or  administering  the  holy  ordinance 
to  the  three  thousand,  is  quite  absurd.  It  only 
betrays  your  ignorance.  This  is  the  effect,  sir,  of 
pride.  'Beware  of  philosophy  and  vain  deceit.' 
I  almost  fear  you  do  not  believe  in  the  inspiration 
of  the  apostles.  What !  mch  men  not  ahle  to  bap- 
tize thousands  in  a  day,  or  hundreds  in  an  hour ! 
14* 


162  CONFESSIONS   OF  A  CONVERT. 

Do  you  not  know  that  they  could  work  miracles, 
and  remove  mountains  ?  I  repeat  it, — 'tis  quite 
absurd.  Jesus  Christ  told  them  that  ^  all  things 
were  possible  to  him  that  believeth.*  Could  they 
not,  then,  easily  immerse  thousands  almost  in  no 
time  ?  There  were  giants  on  the  earth  in  those 
days.  I  am  quite  ashamed  of  your  ignorance. 
But  I  will  not  waste  words  upon  one  so  wedded  to 
his  own  opinion, — it  would  only  be  throwing  pearls 
before  swine.  I  shall  leave  you,  therefore,  to  the 
remorse  which  you  will  one  day  feel  for  having 
rejected  the  counsel  of  G-od,  and  drawn  away 
from  the  truth  vain  and  giddy  persons  like  your- 
self.    I  hope  you  will  soon  repent  of  this,  your 

wickedness. 

"  Your  well-wisher, 

^^  Magister  Docet.^' 

There  was  another  literary  curiosity,  written,  as 
I  conjectured,  by  some  young  woman  who  was  a 
recent  convert  to  immersion.  The  phraseology  is 
unchanged ;  but  I  have  corrected  the  orthography, 
and  supplied  the  punctuation  of  the  following  ex- 
tract : — 

^'  I  was  sorry  that  you  should  write  so  about  the 
baptism  in  our  chapel.  'Twas  a  sweet  season  to 
me.     As  I  saw  the  young  ladies  standing  at  the 


PROSELYTISM   AND   PERSECUTION.  163 

side  of  the  water,  I  thought  to  myself  that  they 
looked  to  me  just  like  the  shining  ones  in  the 
pictures  of  Pilgrim's  Progress  that  stood  upon  the 
brink  of  the  river;  and  then  I  thought  how  beau- 
tiful it  must  have  been  to  see  such  a  many  as  John 
baptized,  all  dressed  in  lily-white  robes,  like  angels 
in  heaven,  by  the  river  Jordan  and  the  river 
^non,— and  what  a  grand  sight  it  must  have 
been  on  the  day  of  Pentecost !  I  never  in  my 
life  saw  the  path  of  duty  to  be  baptized  so  plain 
as  I  did  then ;  and  I  was  so  convinced  by  that 
sweet  sight  that  I  thought  I  could  stand  back  no 
longer."  * 

One  other  extract  from  these  epistles  must 
suffice.  The  writing  was  that  of  a  female,  and 
came,  I  suspected,  from  one  of  "  the  young  ladies" 
referred  to  in  the  preceding  communication. 

"  I  can  speak,  sir,  from  experience,  of  the  bene- 
fits of  baptism.  When  I  was  baptized,  I  felt  that 
I  was  buried  with  my  Saviour.  I  shall  never  for- 
get that  season.  All  your  arguments,  sir,  and  all 
the  arguments  in  the  world,  will  never  turn  me. 


*  I  should  like  to  have  had  the  ideas  of  my  fair  correspondent  upon 
the  altered  appearance  of  the  "shining  ones,"  as  they  emerged  from 
the  baptistery  with  their  "Uly-white  robes"  closely  clinging  to  their 
bodies,  rendering  the  movement  of  their  limbs  difiacult  and  ungainly, 
and  leaving  a  stream  of  the  sacred  element  in  their  train. 


164  CONFESSIONS   OF   A  CONVERT. 

I  would  put  my  experience  against  them  all.  And 
if  you,  instead  of  disputing  about  baptism,  had 
been  baptized  as  I  was,  you  would  have  been  happy 
too.  Many  times  have  I  thought  of  the  precious 
words, — 

'  The  holy  eunuch,  when  baptized, 

Went  on  his  way  with  joy ; 
And  who  can  tell  what  rapturous  thoughts 

Did  then  his  mind  employ  V 

"  This  was  my  experience ;  and  I  am  sure  I 
can  use  his  language,  and  say, 

'  Blessed  pool !  in  which  I  lately  lay, 

And  left  ray  fears  behind 
What  an  unworthy  wretch  am  1 1 
And  God  profusely  kind.' " 

But  other  communications  reached  me  at  the 
same  time,  of  a  very  diiierent  description,  and 
which  I  deemed  an  ample  compensation  for  all 
the  censure  which  had  been  cast  upon  me  !  Of 
these,  that  which  was  to  me  the  most  interesting 
came  from  an  estimable  young  man,  whose  history 
I  will  briefly  sketch.  He  was  an  only  child. 
His  parents,  who  resided'  near  the  seacoast,  about 
thirty  miles  from  us,  were  influential  members 
of  an  Independent  church,  and  much  esteemed 


PROSELYTISM   AND   PERSECUTION.  165 

for  tlieir  works'  sake  by  members  of  other  com- 
munities besides  their  own.  About  five  years 
before  the  time  of  which  I  write,  they  had  ap- 
prenticed their  son  to  a  silversmith  in  our  town, 
who  was  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church.  Ho- 
nourable themselves,  they  never  suspected  that 
those  under  whose  care  they  had  placed  him 
would  take  advantage  of  his  youth,  and  exert  the 
influence  which  they  derived  from  their  position, 
to  make  him  a  proselyte  to  immersion.  No  stipu- 
lation, indeed,  had  been  made, — ^because  they  had 
not  imagined  that  any  such  precautions  would 
have  been  necessary,  to  restrain  his  master  and 
mistress  from  tampering  with  him  in  order  to 
attach  him  to  their  own  party.  But  their  confi- 
dence was  misplaced. 

At  an  early  period  in  his  apprenticeship,  and 
ere  he  had  discovered  any  signs  of  seriousness, 
efibrts  were  made  to  give  his  mind  a  Baptist  bias. 
In  this  proceeding  a  daughter,  some  years  older 
than  himself,  was  the  most  active  agent ;  but  her 
parents  were  not  idle.  Frequently  at  supper,  as 
I  afterwards  learned  from  his  lips,  the  subject 
was  introduced,  and  strong  representations  set 
forth  of  the  duty  of  immersion,  and  the  evils  of  a 
difierent  mode  of  baptizing.  It  was  not,  there- 
fore, surprising  that  one  so  inexperienced  should 


166  CONFESSIONS  OP   A   CONVERT. 

have  become  an  easy  convert  to  the  opinions  thus 
pressed  upon  his  attention. 

I  knew  the  young  man  well.  He  was  a  most 
regular  attendant  at  our  chapel,  and  a  teacher  in 
our  school.  His  manners  were  gentle,  and  his 
habits  retiring ;  but,  as  I  thought  I  had  observed 
a  disposition  to  seek  my  company,  I  had  re- 
peatedly, at  the  close  of  business  on  a  summer 
evening,  sauntered  with  him  through  the  green 
lanes,  and  occasionally  conversed  on  the  sub- 
ject of  personal  religion.  Although  I  was 
aware  both  of  the  opinions  of  his  parents,  and 
of  the  unwarrantable  attempts  which  had  been 
made  to  proselyte  him,  as  he  was  not  then  a 
decided  Christian,  I  carefully  abstained  from 
any  reference  to  a  subject  so  unsuited  to  his 
state  of  mind.  More  than  once,  indeed,  he  had 
alluded  to  the  topic,  and  was  evidently  anxious  to 
hear  my  sentiments  upon  it;  but  I  adhered  to 
my  resolution.  This  course,  however,  in  conse- 
quence of  my  own  state  of  mind,  and  the  indigna- 
tion with  which  I  regarded  the  conduct  of  those 
with  whom  he  dwelt,  I  found  extremely  difficult. 
Whether  he  understood  my  motive  for  acting 
thus,  I  cannot  say ;  but  his  growing  seriousness, 
and  the  increasing  proofs  of  gratitude  and  affec- 


PROSELYTISM  AND  PERSECUTION.    167 

tion  which  I  received  from  him,  satisfied  me  of 
the  propriety  of  the  plan  I  had  pursued. 

In  this  state  our  relations  to  each  other  con- 
tinued up  to  the  period  when  I  renounced  my  early 
views  of  baptism.  But  from  that  time  there  had 
been  a  very  manifest  change  in  his  conduct.  When 
we  met  on  the  Sabbath,  indeed,  his  salutation  and 
smile  wore  the  same  bland  and  affectionate  cast  as 
they  had  been  wont  to  do ;  but  instead,  as  before, 
of  seeking  my  society,  he  evidently  shunned  it.  I 
was  pained  at  this, — more  so,  I  think,  than  by 
any  other  result  of  my  altered  opinions ;  for  I 
knew  him  to  be  a  generous  and  thoroughly  inge- 
nuous youth,  warm  in  his  attachments,  honourable 
in  principle,  and  perfectly  transparent  in  his  gen- 
eral conduct.  I  resolved,  therefore,  to  seize  the 
first  favourable  opportunity  which  might  be  pre- 
sented for  ascertaining,  from  himself,  the  cause  of 
the  change  which  I  had  noticed.  This,  however, 
was  rendered  unnecessary  by  the  following  letter, 
which  he  slid  into  my  hand  one  Sabbath  morning  : 

"  My  dear  Friend, — For  by  this  name  I  hope 
you  will  still  permit  me  to  call  you,  although  I 
am  fully  convinced  that  I  have  forfeited  all  claim 
to  that  privilege.  You  must,  I  fear,  have  wondered 
much  at  my  reserve  and  distance  of  late ;  and, 


168  CONFESSIONS   OF  A   CONVERT. 

when  I  reflect  upon  it,  I  am  quite  overwhelmed 
with  shame,  that  I  could  have  ever  made  such  a 
return  for  the  kindness  I  have  received  from  you, 
and  the  good  I  have,  I  hope,  derived  from  your 
conversation.  *  *  *  *  I  could  write  much 
more  on  this  subject,  but  I  forbear. 

^'  I  could  also  give  you  a  long  account  of  the 
causes  which  induced  me  to  act  towards  you  as  I 
have  recently  done ;  but  as,  in  so  doing,  I  should 
not  only  expose  myself,  but  also  others  whose 
names  I  wish  to  conceal,  I  will  not  enter  into  par- 
ticulars. The  fact  is,  that  I  heard  such  strong 
things  said  against  you,  and  so  many  evil  motives 
assigned  to  account  for  your  change  on  the  subject 
of  immersion,  that  I  almost  believed  what  I  am 
now  convinced  was  utterly  false,  and  thought  that 
I  ought  to  follow  the  advice  of  certain  persons  who 
earnestly  persuaded  me  to  shun  your  society.  All 
the  reparation  I  can  now  make  for  having  allowed 
myself  to  listen  to  such  calumnies,  and  entertain 
such  suspicions,  is  to  confess  my  fault,  which  I  do 
with  sincere  sorrow,  and  to  crave  your  generous 
forgiveness. 

"  But  this  is  not  the  only  purpose  for  which  I 
have  taken  up  my  pen.  I  do  so  both  to  convey 
information,  and  to  ask  for  it.  You  are  well  aware 
that  my  dear  parents  are  Independents ;  and  I  may 


PROSELYTISM  AND  PERSECUTION.    169 

add,  that,  although  most  charitable  towards  other 
Christians,  they  are  firm  believers  in  infant  bap- 
tism. I  know,  too,  that  they  regard  this  ordi- 
nance as  a  great  privilege,  and,  when  rightly 
observed,  very  profitable  both  to  parents  and  to 
childi-en.  Often  have  I  heard  them  refer  to  the 
season  when  I  was  thus  dedicated  to  God,  as  one 
of  the  most  impressive  of  their  lives ;  and  I  know 
that  they  look  upon  this  service  as  an  evidence  of 
Grod's  special  regard  to  the  young,  a  striking  sign 
of  our  need  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  influence,  and  a 
gracious  pledge  of  his  readiness  to  grant  this  bless- 
ing to  them  and  to  theirs. 

*^  But  frequently  as  I  have  heard  them  make 
observations  upon  the  practical  importance  of  this 
service,  they  never,  that  I  can  recollect,  treated  of 
it  in  a  controversial  tone ;  and,  therefore,  when  I 
entered  my  present  situation,  I  was  quite  ignorant 
of  the  reasons  by  which  Baptists  and  Independents 
support  their  respective  opinions.  In  this  state 
of  ignorance,  however,  I  did  not  continue  long, — 
at  least  as  to  one  side  of  the  controversy.  You 
are  aware  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.,  and,  indeed,  all 
the  family,  are  very  strong  Baptists ;  and  it  would 
be  difficult  for  any  one  to  be  long  in  their  house 
without  making  this  discovery.  At  first,  indeed, 
the  subject  was  mentioned  in  my  presence  with 
15 


170  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

caution ;  but  after  a  few  months,  I  became  rather 
weary  of  its  frequent  recurrence,  and  was  occasion- 
ally pained  to  hear  heavy  reflections  thrown  out 
against  the  Christian  denomination  amongst  whom 
I  had  been  brought  up. 

"At  that  time,  as  I  cared  for  none  of  those 
things,  my  impressions  were  but  slight,  and  of 
short  continuance.  Still  I  often  wondered  that 
pious  people  like  Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  should  talk  so 
much  to  me  upon  such  a  subject,  and  should  say 
scarcely  anything  respecting  the  state  of  my  soul. 
Thus  things  continued  until  the  beginning  of  last 
year,  when  more  direct  attempts  were  made  to 
bring  me  to  believe  that  immersion  is  the  only 
proper  mode  of  baptism,  and,  I  am  ashamed  to 
add,  with  success.  I  say  ^ashamed,'  because  I 
now  perceive  that  I  was  led  to  this  conclusion 
without  anything  like  a  fair  investigation  of  the 
subject,  and  without  seeking  information,  or  even 
counsel,  from  my  parents  and  former  pastor.  In- 
deed, to  confess  the  truth,  I  had  so  far  caught  the 
spirit  of  those  from  whom  I  had  received  my  im- 
pressions in  favour  of  immersion  as  to  conclude 
that  not  a  word  could  be  said  in  favour  of  a  differ- 
ent practice,  and  that  my  beloved  relations  were 
only  to  be  pitied,  if  not  condemned,  for  the  delu- 
sions under  which  they  were  held.     This  state  of 


PROSELYTISM  AND  PERSECUTION.    171 

mind,  together  with  the  fear  of  giving  them  pain, 
in  part  restrained  me  from  what  I  see  now  was  my 
bounden  duty.  But  I  must  add  that,  had  not  Mr. 
B.  and  my  master  persuaded  me  not  to  make  any 
such  communications,  I  scarcely  think  I  should 
have  acted  as  I  did. 

"  These  were  my  circumstances,  when  I  heard 
that  you  had  expressed  some  doubts  as  to  the  duty 
of  being  immersed ;  and,  notwithstanding  my  pre- 
vious views  of  your  character,  I  was  brought  to 
ascribe  your  conduct  to  pride,  worldly-mindedness, 
and  other  unworthy  motives. 

"  This  was  my  state  of  mind,  though  I  had  oc- 
casionally some  misgivings  as  to  its  propriety,  up 
to  the  time  when  a  copy  of  your  letter  to  Mr.  R. 
came  into  my  hands.  What  my  feelings  were  after 
I  had  read  it,  I  will  not  attempt  to  describe.  At 
first  I  was  disposed  to  be  angry.  Your  reasonings 
so  completely  struck  from  under  me  the  ground 
upon  which  I  had  founded  my  belief  in  immer- 
sion, that  I  was  both  mortified  at  my  own  igno- 
rance, and  vexed  with  you  for  having  exposed  it. 
But  I  have  since  read  your  letter  repeatedly,  and 
have  carefully  considered  its  arguments;  and  I 
now  write,  not  only  to  apologize  for  my  unjust 
suspicions,  but  to  thank  you,  which  I  do  most 


172  CONFESSIONS   OF  A   CONVERT. 

sincerely,  for  the  light  you  have  thrown  upon  my 
mind. 

^^  Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  do  not  know  that  I  have 
seen  what  you  have  written,  and,  if  they  did, 
would  he  much  displeased ;  for  not  only  had  they 
admonished  me  never  to  read  what  they  described 
as  a  '  wicked'  production,  but  expressed  their  de- 
termination not  to  allow  it  to  enter  their  family. 
I  believe,  however,  that  they  begin  to  suspect 
the  truth,  from  my  having  hinted  at  one  or  two 
of  your  arguments  against  immersion,  and  asked 
how  they  could  be  answered.  This  was  particu- 
larly the  case  a  few  evenings  since,  when  Mr.  B. 
supped  at  our  house.  But  my  queries  brought 
me  no  satisfactory  replies  3  indeed,  I  was  fairly 
silenced  by  the  evident  surprise  and  displeasure 
with  which  they  were  received.  Perhaps  I  ought 
to  have  been  more  candid ;  but  I  assure  you  that, 
although  upon  other  points  I  can  speak  freely, 
the  family  with  whom  I  reside  are  so  sensitive 
on  baptism,  that  I  fear  they  would  change  their 
behaviour  towards  me  entirely,  did  they  know 
what  I  have  now  communicated  to  you.  But  I 
do  not  intend  to  maintain  my  reserve  much 
longer.  I  think  it  right,  however,  to  give  the 
whole  subject  rather  more  consideration  than  I 


PROSELYTISM  AND  PERSECUTION.    173 

have  yet  donej  before  I  express  my  decided 
opinion  upon  it;  and  I  am  particularly  anxious 
to  investigate  one  or  two  topics,  upon  which  your 
letter  does  not  touch.  By  far  the  most  important 
of  these  has  been  so  frequently  stated  in  my  hear- 
ing, and  will,  I  am  persuaded,  be  pressed  with 
so  much  force  when  my  doubts  are  discovered, 
that  I  will  venture  to  solicit  you  to  favour  me 
with  your  views  upon  it.  •  It  is  this, — If  the 
word  translated  baptize  does  not  mean  to  im- 
merse, can  it  be  shown  that  it  means  to  sprinkle 
or  to  pour  ?  I  never  learned  Grreek,  and  cannot 
therefore  ascertain  this  point  for  myself;  but 
you,  I  doubt  not,  have  considered  it,  and  I  shall 
therefore  be  thankful  for  the  result  of  your  re- 
flections. 

"1  shall  hope  to  see  you  soon;  but  for  the 
present  I  would  prefer  a  short  reply  to  an  inter- 
view. 

^'  1  am,  &c." 

"T.  S. — You  know  Isaac,  the  porter  at  Messrs. 
L.  &  Co.'s,  and  I  think  you  will  be  interested  to 
hear  a  little  concerning  him.  He  came  from  the 
same  town  as  I  did,  and  at  the  time  of  his 
removal  was  under  very  strong  religious  con- 
victions. But  he  was  then  extremely  ignorant, 
15* 


174  CONFESSIONS   OF  A  CONVERT. 

and  greatly  required  instruction  on  the  essentials 
of  the  gospel.  Instead,  however,  of  obtaining 
what  would  have  been  so  useful  to  him,  he  was 
beset  by  some  of  our  zealous  friends  on  the 
subject  of  baptism,  who  filled  his  mind  with  the 
opinion  that  immersion  was  the  only  scriptural 
mode  of  performing  it,  until  he  thought  himself 
so  much  wiser  than  his  former  friends,  and  even 
minister,  that,  from,  being  thoughtful  and  hum- 
ble, he  became  conceited  and  censorious.  Know- 
ing his  parents,  and  feeling  some  interest  in  his 
welfare,  I  have  lately  sought  opportunity  to  speak 
with  him  on  the  subject,  and  to  tell  him  some 
of  the  things  which  are  contained  in  your  letter. 
The  effect  has  been  so  to  shake  his  faith  in 
his  former  opinions,  and,  what  is  better,  in 
the  infallibility  of  his  instructors,  that  he  seems 
ashamed  of  himself,  and  is,  I  hope,  beginning  to 
feel  more  than  ever  that  '  the  kingdom  of  God 
is  not  meat  and  drink.'  If  this  were  known,  I 
fear  I  should  be  deemed  as  mischievous  a  person 
as  yourself." 

This  letter,  as  might  be  supposed,  gave  me 
sincere  satisfaction;  and  I  was  too  much  in- 
terested in  the  circumstances  of  my  friend  to 
delay    my    answer    longer    than    necessary.      I 


PROSELYTISM  AND  PERSECUTION.    175 

therefore,  on  the  next  day  wrote  the  following 
reply  :— 

''  3Iy  dear . — "  I  sincerely  thank  you  for 

your  frank  and  friendly  communication.  It  was 
as  gratifying  to  me  as  it  was  honourable  to  your- 
self. I  had  remarked  the  change  in  your  conduct 
towards  me  to  which  you  refer;  and  I  had  also 
(rightly  as  I  now  learn,)  conjectured  the  cause. 

''  I  candidly  confess  that  I  am  much  surprised  at 
the  stir  which  has  been  created  by  a  circumstance 
BO  unimportant  as  my  change  of  opinion  on  a  point 
so  little  connected  with  the  great  purpose  of  life ; 
but  I  am  more  than  surprised,  I  am  deeply  grieved 
at  the  bitter  feeling  which  this  occurrence  has  ex- 
cited. I  meet  with  some  manifestation  of  it  almost 
daily;  and  if  I  needed  any  additional  reason  for 
disbelieving  the  divine  origin  of  immersion,  I 
should  find  it  in  the  unkind  and  unchristian  spirit 
which  it  seems  to  foster  in  its  advocates.  I  be- 
lieve that  creeds,  like  characters,  may  be  known 
by  their  fruits ;  but  when  I  find  a  single  religious 
rite,  yea,  the  mere  mode  of  administering  that  rite, 
raised  into  a  prominence  so  disproportioned  to  its 
importance,  and,  instead  of  fostering  spiritual  ex- 
cellence, kindling  unhallowed  fires,  I  feel  assured 
that  it  cannot  be  of  Grod. 


176  CONFESSIONS   OP   A   CONVERT. 

^  But  I  will  proceed  to  notice  the  topic  upon 
wliich  you  solicit  my  sentiments.  I  have  often 
heard  the  argument  you  have  mentioned ;  and  I 
did  not  advert  to  it  in  my  letter  to  Mr.  R.,  because 
it  was  not  advanced  in  his  sermon.  But  its  refu- 
tation is  most  easy.  Indeed,  the  objection  (for 
argument  it  is  not,)  is  only  a  bold  assumption, 
which  has  been  exposed  and  exploded  a  hundred 
times,  but  which  the  Baptists  reproduce  just  as  if 
it  had  never  been  answered,  or  was  quite  unan- 
swerable. I  have  called  this  ^  a  bold  assumption,* 
but  it  would  be  more  correct  to  describe  it  as  a 
combination  of  such  assumptions.  It  assumes, 
first,  that  the  original  word  describes  some  mode 
of  using  water  ]  secondly,  that  in  this  consists  the 
very  essence  of  baptism ;  thirdly,  that  Independents 
agree  with  Baptists  upon  the  former  point;  but, 
fourthly,  that  while  admitting  that  the  original 
word  describes  the  mode  of  baptism,  they  main- 
tain that  it  does  not  mean  to  dip,  but  to  pour  or 
to  sprinkle.  All  these  advantageous  points  being 
seized,  the  conflict  is  short,  and  the  victory  sure. 
But  there  is  nothing  to  which  this  theory  corre- 
sponds more  closely  than  it  does  to  the  Hindoo 
fable,  which  fixes  the  globe  upon  the  back  of  an 
elephant,  the  elephant  upon  a  tortoise,  and  the 
tortoise  upon — nothing.     Every  assumption  upon 


PROSELYTISM  AND  PERSECUTION.    177 

which  the  requirement  you  have  named  rests  is 
false.  Instead  of  admitting  that  the  original  word 
means  to  pour  or  sprinkle,  Independents  contend 
that  it  describes  no  mode  of  baptism  whatever. 
They  are  well  aware  that,  in  some  passages,  it 
could  no  more  be  translated  to  sprinkle  than  to 
dip,  to  pour  than  to  plunge ;  and  they  maintain 
that  the  term  is  used  simply  and  solely  to  desig- 
nate a  rite — an  outward  purification,  without  any 
reference  whatever  to  the  mode  of  its  administra- 
tration.  They  consider  that  the  word  'baptize,' 
when  it  does  not  designate  the  work  of  the  Spirit, 
bears  a  general  signification — just  such  as  belongs 
to  the  expression  '  sanctify,'  when  used  in  connec- 
tion with  the  ceremonial  observances  of  the  Leviti-, 
cal  economy.  The  name,  however,  thus  applied 
to  these  ceremonial  sanctifications  did  not  describe 
nor  imply  the  mode  of  their  administration,  al- 
though sprinkling  was  that  most  in  common  use. 
But  yet  these  very  services  Paul  designates  '  divers 
baptisms,' — a  plain  proof  that  he  used  the  word, 
as  I  understand  it,  to  signify  a  divine  ordinance, 
but  not  the  particular  mode  of  its  observance. 

"A  little  consideration  will  show  you  that 
there  is  a  close  correspondence  between  the  words 
'baptism'  and  'Lord's  supper.'  The  latter  de- 
signation is  far  more  descriptive  than  the  former. 


178  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

Literally,  it  means  a  meal ;  indeed,  the  principal 
meal  of  the  Jews.  But  who  will  maintain  that 
the  reception  of  a  very  small  piece  of  bread,  and  a 
very  small  quantity  of  wine,  answers  to  the  exact 
meaning  of  the  word  ?  Is  this  to  eat  a  supper  ? 
Nothing  can  be  more  evident  than  that  the  words 
^Lord's  supper'  merely  designate  an  ordinance,  and 
do  not  describe  the  manner  of  its  administration. 
Suppose,  then,  that  the  word  baptism  originally 
meant  an  immersion,  as  certainly  as  the  word 
supper  originally  meant  a  meal,  might  not  the 
one  word  be  used  as  a  general  name  of  a  religious 
service,  without  referring  to  the  mode  in  which  it 
was  performed,  equally  with  the  other  ?  And 
would  not  the  supposition  that  it  was  so  used  be 
highly  probable  ?  If,  then,  all  that  Baptists  say 
as  to  the  original  import  of  the  disputed  word 
was  correct,  it  would  go  for  nothing,  unless  they 
could  overthrow  the  mass  of  proof  which  may 
be  advanced  to  show  that  it  must  have  lost  its 
primary  signification,  and,  like  the  term  '  sup- 
per,' have  become  a  mere  name  for  a  divine  ordi- 
nance. All  this  is  true,  even  supposing  that 
the  term  did  originally  mean  ^dip  and  nothing 
but  dip.'  This,  however,  is  a  false  assump- 
tion,   Hhe   baseless    fabric   of  a   vision,'    which 


PROSELYTISM  AND   PERSECUTION.  179 

dissolves  the  moment  the  light  of  evidence  is  let 
in  upon  it 

^'I  cannot  but  fear  that  some  Baptists,  who 
require  proof  that  the  word  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment means  '  sprinkle/  lay  themselves  open  to  a 
grave  charge.  If  they  know  (and  how  can  they 
be  ignorant  ?)  that  Paedo-baptists  maintain  what 
I  have  stated,  viz.,  that  the  word  has  no  reference 
to  mode  at  all,  they  resort  to  an  unworthy  artifice, 
when  they  ask  for  evidence  of  the  very  point 
which  is  denied,  and  triumph  as  if  they  had  ob- 
tained a  victory,  just  because  that  is  not  esta- 
blished which  was  never  affirmed.  If,  indeed, 
Independents  asserted  that  haptizo  meant  to 
sprinkle,  just  as  Baptists  assert  that  it  means  to 
immerse,  then  they  might  be  fairly  called  upon 
to  make  good  their  theory.  But  when  they 
contend  that  the  term  does  not  describe  any 
mode,  to  require  them  to  show  the  contrary,  and 
thus  to  contradict  themselves,  and  overthrow 
their  own  system,  is  certainly  not  veri/  reason- 
able. 

*'  Hence,  then,  you  will  see  how  unfair  the 
demand  is  respecting  which  you  have  sought  my 
opinion.  And  you  will  further  see^  that  the 
only  evidence  in  support  of  any  mode  of  baptism 
must   be  circumstantial.     Upon  that   ground,  I 


180  CONFESSIONS   OF   A   CONVERT. 

have  endeavoured  to  reason  out  the  point  in  my 
letter  to  Mr.  R. ;  and  from  it,  I  am  confident,  no 
opponent  of  immersion  can  be  driven. 

'^  With  a  sincere  desire  that  you  may  be  led  to 
a  correct  conclusion  on  this  and  every  other  sub- 
ject, believe  me,  my  dear  friend/^  &c. 

I  am  in  possession  of  many  other  facts,  which 
would  further  illustrate  the  sentiments  and  spirit 
of  some  Baptists;  but  enough,  I  presume,  has 
been  written  to  show  the  weakness  of  the  one, 
and  the  exclusiveness  of  the  other.  I  will, 
therefore,  bring  my  narrative  to  a  close.  Fully 
convinced  that  Christian  baptism,  though  not 
immersion,  was  both  a  duty  and  a  privilege, 
and  not  having  been  dedicated  to  God  in  that 
ordinance  during  my  infancy,  I  felt  that  it  be- 
came me  to  fulfil  this  obligation  immediately. 
I  therefore  applied  for  baptism  to  the  Indepen- 
dent minister  in  our  town,  who  readily  acceded  to 
my  request  by  publicly  administering  to  me  that 
ordinance. 


THE     END. 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


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